I 



f 



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THE ANGELS 



THE ANGELS 



BY 



A BIBLE STUDENT 

author of "our eternal homes ;" " bible photographs 
"character: its elements and development," etc. 



" He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep 
thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in 
their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a 
stone." — Psalm xci. n, 12. 



JAMES SPEIRS 

36 BLOOMSBURY STREET, LONDON 
1875 



[Second Edition] 



Exchange 
Western Ont. Univ. Utmff$ 

Aj r- 15- 1938 



TO 

FREDERICK PIERCY, 

AS COMMEMORATING 
OUR TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR 
OF INTIMATE, TENDER, AND UNVARYING 
FRIENDSHIP, 
I LOVINGLY DEDICATE 

THIS BOOK. 



PREFACE. 



T HAVE been assured by some, in whose judgment 
I confide, that the following work might be mis- 
takenly regarded as advancing a claim on the part of 
its author' to communication with spirits in the spiri- 
tual world. In order to prevent such a misconception, 
I beg to explain, at the outset, that the narrative is 
intended simply as an allegory; and that the utter- 
ances of Sophos and Dokeos are authoritative, only 
so far as the weight and variety of scriptural and 
rational argument which is put into their mouths 
may bring conviction to the mind of the reader. 

THE AUTHOR. 



Manchester, 1874* 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION, 

PAGE 

Questions as to the Angels, I 

The Dream : Dokeos, my first teacher, 4 

Are such inquiries frivolous, unlawful, dangerous ? . . .6 

CHAPTER I.— WHAT ARE ANGELS? 

Definition of the term, . . . . . . . .9 

Applied to men, 9 

Applied to departed spirits, ....... 10 

Applied to evil spirits, 1 1 

Specific meaning of the term, 12 

Sophos, my second teacher, . 12 

CHAPTER II.— THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 

All angels from the human race, ...... 14 

Law and order of creation, 15 

Similarities and distinctions between men and angels, . .18 

Angels' wings, and little cherubs, 19 

Origen's belief as to angels and men, 21 

Popular theories concerning the Devil, . . . . .22 
The angels who sinned, . . . . . .23 



x CONTENTS. 



Peter, Jude : the Book of Enoch, 


PAGE 

. 24 


The war in Heaven : Michael and the dragon, 


. 27 


The sons of God and the daughters of men, . 


. 28 


The Devil "a murderer from the beginning, 99 


• 30 


No personal Devil, ....... 


• 3i 


Devil (singular) not in Old Testament, 


• 3i 


Sgnirim and Sheedim, . . . . . 


• 32 


Devil and devils in New Testament, 


• 33 


Diabolos, diaboloi, . . . 


• 33 


"Your adversary, the devil," 


• 34 


The tempter in the wilderness, .... 


• 35 


The demons, 


• 36 


Beelzebub, 


• 37 


Jupiter " the god of flies," 


- 38 


The daemons of paganism, 


• 39 


Satan not the name of one great special fiend, 


. 40 


Satan, an adversary : Satans, adversaries, 


• 4i 


Satan in the Book of Job, . 


. 42 


Peter a Satan, 


. 42 


Paul's "messenger of Satan," . 


. 42 


4 ' Satan falling as lightning from heaven," . 


• 43 


The great red dragon, the Devil, and Satan, . . 


• 45 


Personifications used in Scripture, 


. 46 


The " Morning Stars and Sons of God," 


• 47 


Lucifer, the Son of the morning, ..... 


. 48 


Joy in heaven over the penitent, 


. 49 


The Temptation and Fall of Man, 


. 49 


The serpent that beguiled Eve, . 


• 50 


The story an allegory, ...... 


• 51 


The woman — the man — the serpent, 


. 52 


Eden — the two trees, 


. 53 


The sin — the shame — the penalty, 


• 55 


The deluge, . 


. 56 


The allegory repeated in experience, 


. 56 



CONTENTS. 


xi 




PAGE 




• 57 


The genesis, and regenesis of man, 


. 58 


Death the gate of life, . ... 


• 58 


The Lord took not the nature of angels, 


. 58 


The cherubims, as seen by Ezekiel, .... 


• 59 


The "four living creatures of the Apocalypse, 


. 60 




. 61 


CHAPTER III.— SEERSHIP. 




The wise, the intelligent, the learned, . 


• 63 


Natural vision — intellectual perception — spiritual sight, . 


. 64 


Organs of sight — objects of vision — light, 


. 66 


The eyes of the spirit, 


. 67 


The opening of those eyes, — Seership, .... 


. 67 


Seership in the past and future, 


. 68 


Prophets and seers, — 




Some prophets not seers, 


. 68 


Some seers not prophets, 


. 69 


Seers not necessarily good men, .... 


. 69 


Elisha's servant, 


. 69 


Gradations of seership, . . 


. 70 


Heavenly spiritualism, 


• 7i 


The moral dangers of mediumship, 


. 7i 


Conviction not persuasion, . . . . . 


. 72 


The miraculous as evidence, .... 


. 73 


Subjective and objective seership, . 


• 73 


Visions according to state, 


• 74 


Intellectual sight and spiritual sight, 


• 74 


Why different inspired writers, .... 


• 75 


Bible dreams — visions — " Thus saith the Lord," . 


. 76 


Instruction concerning the Spiritual World, . 


• 77 


The universal law of representatives, . . 


• 77 



xii 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. — THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

PAGE 

Summary of conclusions, 78 

The three divisions of the Spiritual World, .... 79 

The middle state inter??iediate, . .... 80 

Its existence inevitable, 81 

Purgatory and Protestantism, ..... 82 

The testimony of "The Fathers," .... 82 

" Sheol" the place of the departed, .... 83 

"Hades" the Greek equivalent for Sheol, ... 83 

"■Gehenna" — " Tartardsas" ..... 84 

Jesus preached to the "spirits in prison," ... 84 
Where were these spirits ? . . . . . .85 

"David not yet ascended," 86 

"The spirits under the altar," 86 

The scene of the Apocalypse, ..... 87 
The Spirits in prison — 

Scripture statements, 88 

The Lord's work of judgment, 91 

"The Lord descended into the lower parts of the earth," 92 

" Shout, ye lower parts of the earth," 93 

" Comforted in the nether parts of the earth," . . 94 

The "other'sheep not of this fold," .... 94 

The " dead" hearing. Jesus' "voice," . ... 94 

The scene of judgment, 95 

The phrase "the last day," 96 

Prophecy and fulfilment, 97 

Reason and faith, . . . . . . .97 

"The forty days"— Pentecost, 98 

Divine patience, ....... 99 

The spiritual significance of numbers — Forty, . . .100 

The Word in heaven, 102 

The Second Coming of the Lord, 104 

What it will effect, 105 



CONTENTS, xiii 

CHAPTER V.— WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 

PAGE 

The two positions stated, . . . . . . .107 

The psychical and fineumatical bodies, . . . 108 
The natural sown — the spiritual raised, „ . .109 
The spiritual not material, . . . . . .110 

The difference not moral, . . . . . .110 

" Flesh and blood" not to be raised, . . . .111 

Heaven and hell not natural places, . . . .112 

Spirits have bodies, 113 

Only two kinds of bodies, 114 

Resurrection of spiritual body into the spiritual world, 115 

The Saviour and the Sadducees, 115 

The Anastasis taught by Jesus, 116 

Resurrection * ' from out of the dead, " . . 1 1 7 

Paul and the resurrection — 

Does Paul contradict Jesus ? . . . . .118 
"Absent from the body, present with the Lord," . 1 18 
"To live is Christ, to die is gain," . . . .119 
"Dust return to earth, spirit to God," . .119 

The Lord's resurrection — 

" A spirit hath not flesh and bones, " .... 120 
" Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades, . . .120 
The Lord not as other men, . . . . .120 

"We shall be like Him," 121 

Not as to substance, or glory, . . . . .121 

Moral resemblance, . . . . . . .121 

Have the disciples seen their Lord ? . . . .122 

Christ the first-fruits — 

Only resurrection of believers taught in 1 Cor. xv., . 123 

Paul's argument, 123 

Death of curse not natural death, . . . .123 
Death in the world before man, . . . . .124 
Redeemed from death by Jesus, . . . . .125 



xiv 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Two meanings of death, 126 

Two meanings of resurrection, 126 

Paul's argument enforced, 127 

"Those that slept," . . . . " . . .128 

Ap-arche, 128 

Precedence in dignity — "own order," . . .129 
The prophetic Afiarche in time, . . . . .129 

Why the Lord's resurrection different from others, . .130 

"Our vile body," Phil. iii. 21, 130 

The body of this death — the body of the sins of the 

flesh — the old man with his deeds — the body of sin, 131 
Conformable unto Christ's death, . . . . 132 
The resurrection and perfection, . . . .132 
The body of vileness " our vile body, " . . . 133 
The Lord's life repeated in Christian experience, . 134 
Scripture testimonies that the body will not rise, . 134 

" I know that my Redeemer liveth," Job xix. 25-27, . 135 
The Septuagint — the Vulgate, . . . . 135 

Vindicator, not Redeemer, 136 

"In my flesh n before I die, 136 

Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel and Mr. Barnes on this 
passage, 137 

"Thy dead men shall live," Isa. xxvi. 19, . . . .137 

Lowth's better translation, .138 

Jesus and Martha, . . . . . . .139 

The vision of dry bones, Ezek. xxvii. 1-14, .... 139 

Many that sleep in the dust shall awake, Dan. xii. 2, . .140 
The ancient commentators on Dan. xi., . . 141 

The return of the Jews to Canaan, . . . , 142 
The symbolic meaning of " dust," . . . 143 

"We shall not all sleep," 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52 ; I Thess. iv. 13-17, 143 

"Those which sleep," 144 

"Those which remain alive," ..... 145 
The translation of Elijah, 146 



CONTENTS. 



xv 



PAGE 

" The dead in Christ," 147 

Not 6 'dead bodies" shall rise, 148 

The resurrection successive, . . . . .148 
Paul's "by the word of the Lord," . 149 

The gathering of the elect in the heavens, . . .150 

The A.postles' idea of the time of the Second Coming, . '150 
The inspiration of the Apostles, 152 

Resurrection in the light of reason — 

No need for the natural body, . . 4 . .153 

No natural analogies, 153 

Which body? . 153 

To which body the particles? . . . , -153 

What the basis of identity? 154 

Reason and faith, 154 

Further arguments from reason, 155 

Not necessary for recognition, 155 

Not necessary for rewards, . . . . 155 
If material, heaven and hell material, . . . .156 

Why such incorrect views have been permitted, . . .156 
Christianity and its interpreters, . . . 157 

CHAPTER VI. — WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 

A system of spiritual philosophy, 158 

Have the angels employments ? — 

God the Infinite Economist, . ... . . 159 

Employment implied by faculties, . . . .159 

Angels more richly endowed men, . . . .160 

The operation of God's Spirit, . . . .160 

"An idle angel," .161 

Influences of Monasticism, . . . . . .161 

Angels have sex and marry, . . . . . 162 ' 

The perfection of society, .162 

The perfection of heaven, . . . . , .163 

Newton and Mendelssohn, Milton and Faraday, . .163 



xvi 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Genius and uses in heaven, 164 

Earth-life preparatory to heaven-life, . . . .165 

A human idea of heaven, 166 

Heavenly rest, .... .... 167 

Activity and life, 168 

Angelic uses three-fold, 168 

§ I. — WHAT DO ANGELS DO FOR MEN ON EARTH? 

General ministration of angels, 169 

Personal ministration : Patriarchs, . . . .169 
,, Israelites, . . . .170 

„ „ Judges, 170 

,, ,, Prophets, . . . .171 

Tutelary angels of nations, 171 

Personal ministration : New Testament, . . 171 
,, ,, The Apocalypse, . . .172 

General testimonies of the Word, . . . 173 

"Messengers" imply missions, 173 

Charles Wesley's hymn, . . . . . 1 74 

" The angel of the Lord," 175 

" My name is in him," 176 

The angel of Jesus, . . . . . . .176 

The laws of spiritual consociation, 177 

Each soul born into a society, 177 

' ' Fate and freedom" — * ' liberty and destiny," . . 178 
Mediate efflux through the heavens, . . . 179 

Immediate influx of life, 1 79 

God the sole Source of life, 180 

God "the One," and "the All," . . . 181 

How God is " the soul of the world," . . .181 
How man lives, . . . . . . .182 

Various kinds of angelic operation, . . . .183 

Human or angelic isolation impossible, . -183 



CONTENTS. 



xvii 



PAGE 



How moral character is formed, . . . .184 
Influence of angels and spirits on men, . . .184 
For what is man accountable ? 185 

Special uses and consociations, 186 

Celestial and spiritual ' ' Remains," . . . . 187 

The " innocence of ignorance," and the " innocence of 
wisdom," . . . . . . . 188 

The "ladder" of regeneration, ... . 189 

The drama of life, . - . . . . . 189 

The intellectual side of consociation, . . . . .190 

Human "originality," 190 

No finality to human progress, . . . . .191 

Societary units, 191 

Afflux according to use, 193 

Arts and sciences in heaven, . . . . . 193 
Perfection in heaven and on earth inter-related, . .194 
The higher affected by the lower, . . . . 194 
Moral and intellectual liberty preserved, . . . 195 
Each angel and man a Specialist, . . . 195 

§ II.-— WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO FOR SPIRITS IN THE 
WORLD OF SPIRITS ? 

When is the spirit separated from the body ? . .196 

The short sleep of death, 197 

Resurrection into the spiritual world, . . . .197 

Angelic ministration thereat, 197 

The counterpart of * ' Remains," .... 198 

Finding one's level, 198 

The process of judgment, 199 

Scriptural symbols, 199 

Four classes of spirits, 199 

Exploration, Vastation, Finality, .... 200 
I. The holy ones of earth, ..... 200 
b 



xviii 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

2. Those in whom good predominates, . . . 202 

3. Those in whom evil predominates, . . . 206 

4. Human devils, 209 

Order and arrangement, . . . . . . .210 

The countless multitudes, 210 

Habitation, clothing, and food provided by the Lord 
for all, . 211 

Do spirits and angels eat ? 211 

God the only self-subsistent Being, . . . .211 
Inflowing life, re-active recipient planes, . . .211 
Organs imply functions, . . . . . .212 

Scriptural testimonies, 212 

The Lord's flesh and blood, . . , . .213 
Internal and external representatives, . . .213 
Heavenly vegetarians, . . . . . .214 

The raiment of spirits and angels, . . . . .214 

Scriptural testimonies, 215 

Symbolism of clothing, 215 

Symbolism of colours, . . . . . .215 

Colour essential to perfect beauty, . . . .216 

Spiritual habitations, 216 

' ' The house not made with hands," . . . .217 

The law of the spiritual world, . . . . . .217 

This law and Idealism, . . . . .218 

Mind and matter, 218 

Arrangement and government in the World of Spirits, . . 218 

A true aristocracy, 219 

The ministration of ruling, ..... 220 
Government on earth, . . . , . .221 

Have spirits and angels sex ? 221 

Objections to the idea, 221 

Sex implies marriage, but not to be confounded with it, 222 
The spirit the formative principle, . . . .222 



Sex radically in the spirit, thence in the flesh, . . 223 



CONTENTS. 



xix 



PAGE 

The human spirit retains sex, 223 

Recognition of relatives and friends, . . . .224 

The whole organism sexually homogeneous, . . 224 

Sex in mental character, 225 

Exceptions prove the rule, . . . . . .226 

Dualism in all creation, 227 

The dualism in the Divine nature, . . .227 

Man the "head," woman the "heart" in marriage, . 228 

The Scriptures on sex in angels, 228 

Women as well as men in heaven, .... 230 

Marriage a holy institution, 231 

The sensual not necessarily impure, .... 232 

4 4 Lifting up the serpent in the wilderness," . . . 233 

The birth of children, . . . . . . 233 

Marital laws among the Jews, . . . . . 234 

Marriages in the spiritual world, 234 

Whom God hath joined death only temporarily sunders, 235 

The essentials of marriage, 236 

Jesus never married : why? . . . . .237 

Mystical marriage, and real marriages, . . . 238 

Children types of heavenly innocence, . . . 239 

The 144,000 sealed, who were virgins, . . „ 239 

Correspondence of marriage, &c, .... 240 

Spiritual genealogies, 241 

"In heaven they neither marry, nor are given in 

marriage," ... ... . 241 

Truth veiled in parables, . . . . . . 244 

Why the Lord spake in parables, .... 245 

The Lord's teaching as to eunuchs, .... 245 

Love of the sex needs to be "born again," . . . 247 

Adultery, fornication, polygamy impious, . . . 248 

Are all married partners reunited ?..... . . 249 

Infernal marriages in hell, ...... 249 

Social and domestic life in heaven, . . . 250 



XX 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Angels and the spirits of children, ..... 250 
Infant mortality, what it portends, . . . .251 
All who die in childhood are saved, . . . .251 
Angelic guardians and teachers, . . . .251 

Do children in heaven grow ? 252 

Why only some children die, . . . . . 253 
The death of children proof of disorder, , . . 254 
Survival of fittest, physical not moral, . . .255 
Earthly uses from hereditary character, . . . 256 
To have had children who are now in heaven, . .256 

The heathens in the World of Spirits, 257 

Judged according to their knowledge, . . . 258 
The good will learn truth, ...... 258 

The two modes of acquiring truth, .... 258 

Angelic preachers in the World of Spirits, .... 259 

Renewals of the Pentecost, 259 

True eloquence, 259 

Endless diversity of styles, .... . . 260 

Preaching not the highest mode of teaching, . . 260 

Angelic language, ........ 260 

All spiritual things representative, . . . .261 

Privilege of learning a responsibility, . . . .261 



§ III. — WHAT DO ANGELS DO IN HEAVEN? 



Arrangement of the heavens, ...... 262 

Order heaven's great law, ...... 262 

Necessity of distinctions, ...... 262 

Scriptural indications of such, ..... 263 

Paul caught up to the third heaven, .... 264 

Three heavens, .... .... 264 

The universal law of aggregation, .... 265 

Firstly, according to genius, into two kingdoms, . 265 



CONTENTS. 



xxi 



PAGE 

Secondly, according to advance in regeneration, into 



three heavens, 266 

Thirdly, according to life-use, into societies, . . 267 
Divine dualism and tri-unity thus represented, . . 267 
Freedom of intercourse, ..... 267 

Plane fixed : progress eternal, ..... 267 
Communication between the various societies and the 

three heavens, 268 

The analogy in the human body, .... 268 

Angelic government, ........ 269 

The service of ruling, .... . . 269 

Rulers have corresponding state, . . . .269 

Rulers and governors on earth, 270 

Crowned subjects and uncrowned kings, . . .270 
Fitness for each use the gift of God, . . . .271 
Rulers in heaven not the highest of angels, . . .271 

Martha and Mary, . 271 

Each soul's use the most delightful to each soul, . .271 
Hope for earth in respect of rulers, . . . .272 

Worship in heaven, . . . . . . . ; 273 

Temples in heaven, . . . . . .273 

Represent the Divine Humanity, . . . -273 

Character of heavenly temples, 274 

Earthly architects and their inspiration, . . .274 
A temple the fixed embodiment of ' * beauty, stability, 

harmony, and worship," . . . • . 274 
Temples, how produced? . . . . . 275 
Immediate objective production, .... 275 
Production by angels as voluntary agents, . . .275 
" No night in heaven," . . . ... 276 

Forms of worship, 276 

^Esthetic and simplistic forms, 277 

Prayer in heaven, 277 

' 4 * The marriage supper of the Lamb," . . . 278 



xxii 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Angelic employments pertaining to worship, . . 278 
The present place best for the present, . . . 278 
Now and Hei-e our only existence, . . . .279 

The Providence of God, 279 

Teaching in heaven, 279 

Joy of knowing; joy of teaching, .... 279 
Acquiring knowledge a process, . . . -279 

"Give;" "Get," .280 

Advance in knowledge characteristic, . . . 280 

Subjects of heavenly study, 280 

Theosophy studied as to causes, . . . . .281 
Astronomy of the heavens, . . . . .281 

Geology of the heavens, 2S2 

Mathematics in heaven, ...... 282 

Spiritual physiology, zoology, botany, biology, social 
statics, dynamics, optics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, 
acoustics — as to causes, .... . 283 

A priori and a posteriori processes, . . . . 284 

Theology in heaven, . 284 

Heavenly history, 285 

Angelic biography, 286 

Methods of teaching, 286 

Writing in heaven, . . . . . . . 286 

Scripture teachings on this point, .... 286 

Argument from reason, 287 

Poets in heaven, 287 

Some poetry written, 288 

Heavenly lyrics, epics, dramas, 288 

A heavenly Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Dante, 

Milton, Tasso, or Goethe, . . . ... 288 

Themes for angelic poetry, 288 

Angelic literature, 289 

The Arts in heaven, 289 

Spontaneous production and transformations, . . 289 



CONTENTS. 



xxiii 



Analogous process on earth, 
Laws of mind limited by laws of matter, 
Man's creative triumphs, 
" Nature " in the spiritual world, 
Human art and angelic art, 
Music in heaven, 
Angelic masters in this art, 
Order in respect of music, . 
"Birds whistle; only man can sing," 
Heavenly composers, soloists, instrumentalists, 

choirs, 

"Music the beautiful as heard," 
Various styles and uses of music, 
The opera, ...... 

The uses Of dramatic representation, . 
Pleasure not excluded from heaven, 

Dancing in heaven, 

The Scriptures on dancing, 
Errors of the Church as to asceticism, 
Ascetics in the World of Spirits, 
Canonizing ascetics as " Saints," 
Popery and Puritanism, 
Asceticism a slander against God, 
Sports and pastimes among children in heaven, 
The true nature of self-denial, 

Painting in heaven, 

The philosophy of painting, 
The love of representing one's idea of the beautiful, 
Angelic artists, . . . . . 
Art culture preparative for heavenly enjoyment, 
Earthly art a foretaste of heavenly, 
Art galleries in heaven, .... 
Angelic teachers of art, .... 
The art -miracles which may be expected, . 



and 



PAGE 
290 
290 
290 
291 
292 
292 
292 
293 
293 

293 
293 
294 
294 
295 
295 
295 
296 
297 

297 
298 
298 
298 

299 
299 
300 
300 
301 
302 
• SO 2 
303 
303 
304 

3°4 



xxiv CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The law against graven images, ...... 304 

It does not prohibit art, 304 

Art employed in the Tabernacle, . 305 

Bezaleel and Aholiab, 305 

Art in Solomon's Temple, ..... 306 

Art modes in heaven, 306 

The Lord's gifts eternal, 306 

Heavenly artists, 307 

The beautiful and good, 307 

Milton, Sir Thomas Browne, Barrow, Plato and Bacon, 308 

Paul on the revelation of Nature, .... 308 

The Science of Correspondences, , . . . 308 

Earth the portal of heaven, — 

The key of knowledge, 308 

God's gifts and sin, ....... 308 

Culture anticipatory and predictive, .... 309 

Religion and culture, 309 

The religion of the future, ..... 309 

The kingdom of heaven a kingdom of uses, . . 309 
Who and what are the angels, . . . . .310 

The increase of heaven, 310 



INTRODUCTION. 



HAD been reading the Divine words written in 
the ninety-first Psalm, "He shall give His angels 
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash 
thy foot against a stone." I raised my eyes from the 
Bible, and fell a-musing. The house was still. All my 
family had retired to rest, and I was alone in my library. 
The ticking of the clock made monotonous music, quite 
in harmony with my slowly moving thoughts. This was 
the only sound, and it made me conscious how deep was 
the silence which otherwise reigned about me. The 
solemn night had passed its meridian; and, perhaps, I 
was a little wearied with the pleasant labours of an unin- 
terrupted 1 evening spent at my desk. If I was weary, I 
had no sense of the fatigue ; but felt calmly thoughtful, 
serenely at my ease. My previous labour of research 
had been sufficiently rewarded, as my manuscript of notes 
and extracts shewed; and my work had been very agree- 
able. I had read the Psalm as my latest duty, and I 
paused at the verse I have quoted, and mused. 

"He shall give His angels :" — " He" refers to the Al- 
mighty, that is clear: the angels are "His!* "His 

A 




2 



INTRODUCTION. 



angels:" — Who and what are these angels? In what 
relation do they stand to the Almighty ? What is their 
nature? Wherein do they differ from man? Where was 
their birthplace? When were they created? What is 
their present state? What are their joys, their hopes? 
What scope have they for the exercise of their powers? 
Are they all alike ? Are there many of them ? Do they 
increase in number ? Whence does the increase come ? 
How is it regulated? How are they arranged and 
subordinated? How are they employed? In short, 
what do the angels do ? — Such were the questions which 
gently streamed through my mind, and became half- 
spoken thoughts. 

"He shall give His angels charge over thee:" — Over 
whom ? What charge ? For what purpose ? How fulfilled? 
How far can he, over whom charge is given, become 
conscious of the fact of their attendance and ministra- 
tion ? What are the laws which regulate the reception 
of such " charges," and their performance ? Is it a uni- 
versal fact — does it apply to all angels and to all men ? 
Is it an abiding fact — will it for ever apply to angels and 
men? 

What effect has such ministration on the moral and 
mental freedom of him concerning whom the charge is 
given? 

"To keep thee in all thy ways:" — How keep? Is this 
guardianship perpetual, or intermittent? Why, then, are 
there falls and declinations in state, departures from the 
right, wanderings into wrong? Are the subjects of this 
ministration infallibly guided, necessarily protected and 
preserved ? 

"In their hands they shall bear thee up:" — Is this 
science or symbolism ? What is meant by the " hands " 
of the angels? How do they "bear" us up? 



INTRODUCTION. 



3 



" Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone : " — What is 
meant by these symbols ? What " foot/' and against what 
t( stone " ? Why this care ? What are its limits ? 

Once more my mind reverted to the questions : — Who 
are the subjects of this ministration ? Who are its agents? 
If it be universal in respect of men, what are the evidences 
of its reality? If not universal, what are the grounds of 
the selection of certain angels as guardians, and of certain 
men as the subjects of such guardianship? 

Another thought suggested the question — Is there any 
profit in such inquiries ? They may, perhaps, be frivolous; 
perhaps, they are unlawful ! 

" Ah," I exclaimed, " who shall be my teachers on these 
points? I want not old traditions, such as those that 
had birth in Egyptian, Babylonish, and Persian imagina- 
tions, some of which were preserved in fable by the Jews, 
and which have been perpetuated and multiplied in the 
Church. I ask not for superstitious fancies, born of 
poetic frenzy in the brain of a fasting Mohammed. Oh, 
that I could gain solid instruction on these themes, the 
truth of which might seem self-evident in the immutable 
necessity of things ! " 

With my elbow on my desk, and my head supported 
by my hand, I closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep ; 
for what followed could only have been a kind of dream, 
in which former remembrances seemed to become em- 
bodied, and spoke to me, following out into new and daring 
channels of speculation the topics they discussed. These 
topics were sufficiently various, and the ideas presented 
in regard to some of them were sufficiently startling, to 
fasten themselves on my memory. 

When I became once more individually conscious, my 
head was lying on both arms, which were crossed beneath 
it on the desk. The sun had risen, its light was stream- 



4 



INTRODUCTION. 



ing above the window-shutters into the room, paling into 
a sickly hue the light of my table lamp. I felt neither 
chilly nor weary, but commenced to record, as well as 
I could remember, the gist of what I had seen and 
heard. 

This process of semi-dreaming, and of recording the 
conversations which then took place, continued at inter- 
vals for a considerable period. The conversations were , 
resumed at the point where they had ceased on the 
former occasion ; but as the method was but the vehicle 
for communicating the ideas, I have preferred not to in- 
dicate the breaks which occurred, so that the thoughts 
conveyed might be the more consecutively expressed. 

Beyond doubt, many of the conclusions attained, and 
their processes of proof, may seem to some readers as 
surprising, even incomprehensible, and, perhaps, unwar- 
rantable, as they did when first presented to me. With 
the impression they convey I have nothing to do. 
I am constrained to think that, at least, most of the 
statements of my teachers will be found decidedly sug- 
gestive; and on this, if on no other or higher ground, I 
venture to ask for them a careful and meditative perusal. 

DOKEOS, OR MY FlRST TEACHER. 

"Ah!" I had exclaimed, "who shall be my teachers 
on these themes ? " 

It seemed to me as though I was gradually enveloped 
in mist, at first a smoke, coloured grey, but slowly develop- 
ing into a beautifully pure and clear atmosphere. Shapes, 
vague and indistinct, appeared to float rather than walk 
across my field of view. By degrees these shapes grew 
more defined : they were human forms. As they passed 
the spot where I seemed to be seated, they paused an 



INTRODUCTION. 



5 



instant, and turned their faces toward me. They gazed 
at me and I at them,. Their glance was neither welcom- 
ing nor menacing ; it seemed almost expressionless ; as 
cold and distant-looking as the face of an Egyptian sphinx. 
They had nothing to do with me, nor I with them. It 
was a panorama of diversified human faces and forms, 
like an army of shadowy shapes flitting past me ; silent, 
though observant ; passionless, feelingless, utterly unsym- 
pathetic. 

As the host were passing, I saw behind them a man 
whose calm and statuesque beauty immediately attracted 
my attention, and seemed to awaken within me affection 
and confidence. He appeared to be of middle stature, 
and was clad in a loosely flowing robe. What was the 
material of the robe I did not think of observing; in 
colour it seemed faintly tinged with amber. On his 
left shoulder he wore a resplendent jewel, which gathered 
up and fastened the graceful folds of his robe. All the 
colours of the rainbow seemed to be reflected from the 
superb single stone of which this ornament was formed. 
As he moved, the light, coming from I know not what 
source, appeared to blaze in brilliant irradiations from 
this stone. His throat was bare and vigorous. His face 
might have been that of a man of thirty years old, des- 
titute of beard, smooth and finely chiselled; his eyes ap- 
peared to be a dark grey, beneath strongly marked eye- 
brows, surmounted by a magnificent brow, over which 
long and curling locks of rich brown hair fell in masses. 
His eyes were wonderful in beauty; calm, thought- 
bespeaking eyes, but full of tenderness. He seemed to 
be gazing at me with interest. 

When he observed that he had fixed my attention, he 
made a graceful movement with his right hand, his left 
lay hidden in the folds of his robe upon his bosom, and 



6 



INTRODUCTION. 



the shadowy shapes disappeared. Then he advanced, 
and stood close to me. 

" I am here/' he said. His voice was sonorous and 
clear as that of a full-toned tenor bell. 

"Why are you here?" I seemed to ask, in thought 
rather than words. 

" You asked for teachers : I am here." 

" Can you, then, tell me what I have desired to know ? " 
I asked. 

" Only in part," he replied gravely. " I can teach you 
somewhat : but I can lead you to those who can teach 
you more. If you will follow I can lead." 

" Who are you ? What is your name ?" I asked. 

He smiled. " I am called by'many names," he replied. 
" You may think of me as Dokeos." 

"A Greek name," I said. 

" It will do as well as another. We deal with thoughts, 
which may fall into any fitting form of words. The thought 
is the essential, the word is accidental ; if the name 
conveys the thought, it performs its use, and so may 
serve us." 

" Well, Dokeos, I am willing to consider," I said, seeing 
that he paused. 

"Your questions as to the angels are not frivolous. 
He who created and preserves the human mind intended 
that it should be exercised. Every subject suggested in 
His manifold operations was designed to provoke inquiry, 
to stimulate thought. He asks not the unreasoning acqui- 
escence of any understanding : else He had not made 
man intelligent and rational. No inquiry honestly com- 
menced and intelligently pursued is frivolous. Even 
error, when resulting from honest investigation, is better 
than intellectual emptiness : one indicates activity ; the 
other stagnation. If investigation be prolonged, the 



INTRODUCTION. 



7 



error will be seen to be erroneous and will be abandoned: 
mental stagnation is intellectual death. Wisdom is 
justified of her children, all of whom had to toil by 
research into the attainment of knowledge." 

"I am answered," I replied. "But are my questions 
unlawful?" 

" Where is the law which forbids ?" rejoined he, with a 
superb gesture of the hand, as sweeping away invisible 
obstructions. " The All-wise has revealed in His Word 
the existence of such beings as angels ; He has also re- 
counted some of their duties and has indicated something 
as to their nature. Just as what He has revealed con- 
cerning Himself was designed to provoke men to medita- 
tion, and further inquiry concerning Himself: so what- 
ever else He has revealed on any subject was designed to 
stimulate to similar investigation. You still hesitate," he 
added tenderly. " Reflect ! If your motive be to 
gratify an idle curiosity, the motive is unworthy, and the 
inquiry is, for that reason, unlawful. If your motive be 
earnestly to know the ways of God in these matters, your 
motive is worthy, and no precept prohibits the research. 
Reflect again ! Whence can you obtain information 
relative to' such themes ? From the living oracles of the 
Most High ? The revelation was given in order that it 
might be understood ! From seers, whose eyes have been 
opened that they might see? The permission was ac- 
corded, that man might be instructed ! From deep study 
and pious meditation, discerning the necessary laws of 
human and angelic life ? The convictions thus attained 
are necessarily your tutors, whose teachings you dare not 
affect to despise !" 

"Is not the inquiry dangerous?" I asked. 

" Dangerous ?" repeated Dokeos. " Only in the sense 
that all inquiry is dangerous. There is the danger of 



s 



INTRODUCTION. 



erroneous conclusions : this danger must be encountered 
in all investigations. Only through such risks can men 
realize true knowledge. The danger of presumption : no 
law prohibits the human soul from prosecuting any inquiry, 
if pursued in a spirit of reverence. The danger of rest- 
ing in limited, though not erroneous conclusions as though 
they were final perceptions of the truth : one generation 
will and should outgrow the defective knowledge of pre- 
ceding times, and carry forward the wisdom of the past 
to higher achievements. The danger of being diverted 
by purely speculative studies from more practical, and 
therefore more immediately important themes : the capa- 
cities of each soul determine the law of choice in each 
soul of the subjects that shall engage its study. That 
most concerns each soul to know, about which each soul is 
most eager to learn. Who shall decide what is most im- 
portant in the vast realm of knowledge ? He who made 
souls to be so various and diversified was wise : His 
arrangements are the best. All wisdom is inter-related : 
we can say to no truth, ' I have no need of thee.'" 

" I am satisfied," I answered. " I submit myself to 
your guidance." 



CHAPTER I. 



ANGELS ARE MESSENGERS— VARIOUS APPLICATIONS 
OF THE TERM. 

OU have asked, what are angels ?" said Dokeos. 
"Explore your own mind. What do you 
already know or think on the subject?" 
I answered : — " The word angel means a messenger; 
its Greek root signifies to tell, or to announce. Although 
specifically applied to spiritual beings of another nature 
than man, and who have been employed by the Lord on 
embassies of His Providence, the name does not strictly 
bear this limited signification. 

"It is applied to men who have been employed by 
God as His messengers. Thus all messengers of God 
were really angels of God. Such were the prophets 
(Isa. xlii. 19; Hag. i. 13; Mai. iii. 1). Such likewise 
were priests (Mai. ii. 7). Such were the judges who 
judged in the name of the Most High, or as they were 
sometimes termed 6 Gods/ Elohini (Psa. lxxxii. 6). Thus 
'the wise woman of Tekoah' likened David to 'an angel 
of God'; a comparison repeated by Mephibosheth (2 
Sam. xiv. 17, 20, xix. 27). 

"So John the Baptist, called 'the messenger/ is in the 
original Greek styled 'the angel' (Luke vii. 27) ; even 




10 



ANGELS ARE MESSENGERS. 



the 'messengers' of John are entitled 'the angels of 
John' (ver. 24) ; the messengers whom the Saviour sent 
before Him to Jerusalem also are called 'angels' (Luke 
ix. 52). So likewise James designates 'the messengers' 
sent by Joshua to Jericho, who were entertained by Rahab 
(ii. 25). Using the title in the same sense, Paul wrote to 
the Galatians, ' Ye know how through infirmity of the 
flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And 
my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, 
nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God' (Gal. iv. 
14). Hence also the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews 
admonishes Christians, 'Be not forgetful to entertain 
strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels un- 
awares 1 (Heb. xiii. 2). This, I suppose, means that the 
stranger who is entertained maybe a 'messenger of God/ 
the bearer of heavenly tidings to those who receive and 
welcome him. In addressing ' the angel' of each of the 
seven Churches in Asia, the Lord may have addressed 
the presiding elder, officer, or bishop of each church, and 
thus have designated by this title a man employed as a 
'messenger' of God." 

" There is a far higher and wider meaning involved in 
the last instance you have cited," said Dokeos, " which we 
shall afterwards learn. But proceed." 

" It seems, as I read the statement, that the word 'angel' 
is also applied to the spirit of a man after leaving the body. 
When Peter had been delivered from prison by an angel 
of the Lord, and had gone to the house of Mary, the 
mother of John, where many of the church had gathered 
for the purpose of holding a prayer-meeting, he knocked 
at the gate, a damsel named Rhoda came to hearken, 
and knew Peters voice; she 'opened not the gate for 
gladness,' but ran in and told the assembled Christians 
that Peter stood at the gate. They said that she was mad ; 



ANGELS ARE MESSENGERS. 



ii 



but when she constantly declared that Peter had indeed 
knocked and spoken, they said 'It is his angel f meaning, 
I presume, that it was his spirit (Acts xii. 12-15). I nave 
been taught that the Saviour's words concerning children 
— 'Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, 
for I say unto you, that their angels do always behold the 
face of My Father which is in heaven* (Matt, xviii. 10) — 
mean that the spirits — the angels — of children who die in 
infancy are thus privileged with being near to God." 

"The interpretation is not correct," said Dokeos 
gravely ; " but of that hereafter." 

" At least then," I replied, " it shews that the Church 
has generally believed that one of the various significations 
of the word 'angel' is the departed spirit of a human 
being. Besides, the Saviour has taught us that after the 
resurrection men shall be 'like the angels' and 'equal 
to the angels.' " 

Dokeos inclined his head in approval, and motioned 
me to continue. 

" Certainly the word ' angel' is not restricted to good 
beings, whether in the spiritual or the natural world. The 
Psalmist states concerning the Israelites who had rebelled 
against the Divine Law, that the Lord ' cast upon them 
the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation and trouble, 
by sending evil angels among them' (Psa. lxxviii. 49). May 
I conclude that such an evil angel is referred to in the 
allegory of Job, where Satan, the adversary, is said to 
have gone up with the 4 sons of God;' or in the allegory 
of the vision of the prophet Micaiah, where a spirit is 
described as 'a lying spirit' permitted to tempt Ahab to 
go up to Ramoth-Gilead to die? (1 Kings xxii. 21, 22)." 

Once more Dokeos bowed his head and waved his hand. 

" We certainly read," I continued, " of 'the Devil and 
his angels* (Matt. xxv. 41) : we cannot but infer that these 



12 ANGELS ARE MESSENGERS, 



'angels' were evil spirits. So also we read of Michael 
and his angels warring against the Dragon and his angels 
(Rev. xii. 7): these latter must be the wicked emissaries 
of the Dragon; the wicked spirits in high, or heavenly 
places, such as Paul wrote of." 

" You are right," said Dokeos. " The word means 
messenger, and may be employed with respect of any one 
who is sent. But its specific signification ?" 

"The angels of God, those glorious spiritual beings 
whose dwelling-place is heaven, whose joy it is to 'do 
the commandments of God, hearkening unto the voice of 
His word / those 'ministers of His who do His pleasure' 
(Psa. ciii. 20, 21); of whom we read that 'the chariots of 
God are thousands of angels' (Psa. lxviii. 17). These are 
also styled 'the holy ones/ 'the sons of God,' and even 
'gods.' It is of these wondrous and heavenly beings I 
seek to learn. Is it of these you are able to teach me ?" 

" I, with others," replied Dokeos. " Behold !" 

Sophos, my Second Teacher. 

No sooner had Dokeos uttered the word "Behold !" 
than there seemed to stand at his right hand a majestic 
old man, tall and stalwart in figure. He was clad in a 
pale purple-coloured robe, without ornament of any kind, 
which flowed in graceful lines from his shoulders to his 
feet. When once I had looked upon his face, it riveted 
my gaze. A full, firm set mouth, a slightly drooping 
nose, somewhat massive cheek and jaw bones, suggested 
great force of purpose and character. He had a noble, 
dome-like, massive brow. His eyes, however, were 
wonderful, they were glorious eyes ; solemn, calm, and 
deep : they seemed as truly inlets to his mind as outlets 
through which his mind looked on external things. 



ANGELS ABE MESSENGERS. 13 . 

There was somethirig abstracted in his gaze, as though 
he were looking through and beyond me ; but capable 
of instant attention, and then expressive of serene kind- 
ness. He altogether seemed more massive and less 
emotional than Dokeos. The new comer might have 
been of another race than I, so solemn, stately, and 
majestic did he appear. 

As I continued to gaze at him, the semblances of 
age which had at first impressed me passed away, seemed 
indeed to melt from about him, and his face then appeared 
like that of a man in the meridian of life, calm, experi- 
enced, and full of intellectual power. As he gazed at me, 
I felt humbled, and even abashed. It brought a sense of 
relief when he dropped his eyes toward the ground, or 
lifting them seemed to gaze beyond or above me. 

The conception of concentrated power which to me he 
seemed to embody extended to his pose, his firmly set 
head, his erect attitude and his strongly planted feet; 
and even his hands, deep knuckled, long fingered and 
solid palmed, conveyed the same impression. The idea 
was deepened by the close clustering masses of crisp 
curling hair which clung about his broad and deep white 
forehead, and covered his magnificent head. 

While I gazed, there came to my mind the thought 
that I had somewhere seen such a man, or the portrait of 
such a man, or, at least, a picture which had suggested 
such a face to my imagination ; but it far exceeded in 
masculine beauty and dignity anything I had before con- 
ceived of. The atmosphere itself seemed to be bright- 
ened and to grow more pellucid about him. 

I mentally asked Dokeos who the new comer was. 

"You may call hini Sophos," he answered; "names 
designate qualities, and wisdom is his. He is one whose 
eyes have been opened, and who therefore has seen." 



CHAPTER II. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 

H, Sophos," I exclaimed, "who and what are 
angels ? Are they the first-born sons of God, 
created of purer substances than men, fashioned 
before the world was, to people the vast solitudes of hea- 
ven ; the descending thought of God becoming incarnate 
in its transit through the spiritual realm, ere yet it had fixed 
itself final in the ultimate plane of nature, and man began 
to breathe the breath of life?" 

Dokeos smiled gravely at this rhapsody, and he whom 
Dokeos had named Sophos replied to me. His voice 
was strong, clear and deep toned. His words were 
slowly enunciated, singularly distinct in utterance ; the 
impression they left upon the memory seemed as though 
it could never be effaced. As he spoke, his right hand 
was a little raised, and gently moved, lending additional 
emphasis to his words : — 

" Is it altogether unknown to you that heaven and hell 
are from the human race ? I know that it is commonly 
believed that angels were created such from the begin- 
ning, and that this was the origin of heaven ; that the 
Devil or Satan was an angel of light, who became rebel- 
lious, and was cast down from heaven with the third part 




THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 15 

of the angelic host, and that this was the origin of hell. 
It is amazing that such a faith should prevail. There 
is not a single angel in the universal heaven who was 
originally created such, nor any devil in hell who was 
first created an angel of light and was afterward cast 
down thither ; all, both in heaven and hell, are from the 
human race. Angels are men who lived in the world in 
heavenly love and faith, and who have thence ascended 
to heaven: devils are men who lived in the world in 
infernal love and faith, and who have thence consigned 
themselves to hell." 

"Can this be true?" I asked. 

" It is true," replied Dokeos. 

" But, do we not read ?" I began. 

" Hear more before you attempt to judge," answered 
Dokeos. " Sophos, we listen." 

" Man by creation is like an angel as to his interiors 
which are of the mind ; for the will and understanding 
of man are like the will and understanding of an angel ; 
and, therefore, after the decease of his natural body, if he 
has lived in the world according to Divine order, man 
becomes an angel, and has angelic wisdom. It is pecu- 
liar to man, and distinguishes him from an angel, that he 
is not only in the spiritual world as to his interiors, his 
soul or spirit, but also at the same time in the natural 
world as to his exteriors. His exteriors which are in the 
natural world are all things belonging to his body, and 
also his natural or external memory, the subjects of 
thought and imagination ; and these in general are know- 
ledges and sciences, with their delights and pleasures, 
so far as they savour of the world ; and also the various 
pleasures which belong to the sensual principles of the 
body, together with the senses themselves, speech and 
actions. All these things are natural ultimates in which 



j6 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



the Divine influx of life from the Lord closes ; for Divine 
influx does not stop in the middle, but proceeds to its 
ultimates. Hence the ultimate of Divine order is in 
man, and because he is the ultimate of Divine order he is 
also its base and foundation. Since the Divine influx of 
the Lord does not stop in the middle, but proceeds to its 
ultimates ; since the middle, through which it proceeds, 
is the angelic heaven, and the ultimate is in man, and 
since anything unconnected cannot exist, it follows that 
the connection and conjunction of heaven with the 
human race are such that the one subsists from the other ; 
that the human race without heaven would be like a 
chain which had lost its middle links ; and that heaven 
without the human race would be like a house without a 
foundation." 

" But," I remarked, " if man is thus dependent on the 
heavens for his inflowing life, does not this necessitate the 
prior existence of angels before man himself could exist?" 

" Not so," rejoined Sophos. " Creation proceeded from 
first principles, or primates, to last principles, or ultimates, 
and thence to intermediates; just as the purpose for 
which things are made can have no real existence apart 
from the causes by which they were produced, and both 
designs and causes have no real or objective existence 
till they are terminated or closed in effects. Divine 
Order never stops in a middle point, since then it would 
not be in its fulness and perfection — but proceeds to its 
ultimate; and there commences formation. Design, cause 
and effect are made visible in the effect, just as love and 
wisdom are traceable in the Divine works." 

" Then, you affirm that in the creation, although the 
design and the causes were prior in order of rank, effects 
were first in the order of time, that is, the natural world 
was created before the spiritual world?" I asked. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



17 



il I do so affirm," replied Sophos. " The Divine crea- 
tive operation proceeding from Himself terminated itself 
in the ultimate plane, and there began to be visible and 
objective; thence it returned towards Himself and suc- 
cessively produced all intermediate things, including 
minerals, vegetation, animated forms of life, man, angels, 
the kingdoms of heaven, and all things that are therein." 

" And what is this you style the ultimate?" I inquired. 

" The extreme is the lowest of all created things, 
which you can conceive of as matter, apart from all other 
qualities except that it exists, and that it is lifeless and 
inert," responded Sophos. 

" Where can we find such matter so devoid of quali- 
ties?" I demanded. 

" Nowhere as an objective fact," answered Sophos. 
" All forms of matter with which you are acquainted are 
more or less modified and qualified by the life which they 
receive and embody. Yet, underlying all those natural 
forms is this extreme ultimate of existence, which we may 
style matter, giving to all things fixity and inertness. 
Life is the motor power, the universal active; matter is the 
thing moved or acted upon. What matter is in itself, 
apart from the qualities it receives from life, who can say? 
I cannot. It is the base of inertia, a quality of all 
created things. It furnishes the plane of resistance and 
of reaction. From Himself God produced matter, by 
successively depriving His emanation of all life, and of 
every quality; and from matter God has successively 
produced all things, by infusing into the material form 
which He has made, increasingly new and varied 
qualities with the life which He has caused to flow into 
them from Himself. Thus God is the Former and Ori- 
ginator of all things, while yet the creation remains ever 
distinct from Him who created it." 

B 



1 8 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



"This theory demands meditation, which I cannot 
now give to it, Sophos," I said. " But tell me, what, 
then, is the intrinsic difference between angels and men?" 

"I have answered you already," rejoined Sophos. 
"Angelic minds and human minds are similar. Both 
enjoy the faculty of understanding, perceiving and willing; 
and both are formed to receive heavenly love and wisdom. 
The human mind is capable of wisdom equally with the 
angelic mind, but it does not become so wise in the 
world \ for one reason among many, because it is in an 
earthly body, and in that body the spiritual mind thinks 
naturally. It is otherwise when the human mind is re- 
leased from its connexion with the body, for then it no 
longer thinks naturally, but spiritually; and when it 
thinks spiritually, it grasps ideas which are incompre- 
hensible and ineffable to the natural man, and thus it 
becomes wise like an angel. The internal of man, which 
is called his spirit, is in its essence an angel ; when it is 
released from the earthly body, it is in a human form 
like an angel; for all angels are in a perfect human form; 
and, if the man has loved God and worked righteousness, 
he becomes as the Lord said, 'as the angels/ and is an 
angel." 

"Angels are men in heaven: good men are angels on 
earth," added Dokeos. 

" Our poet Young," I observed, "has written : — 

'Angels are men of a superior kind ; 
Angels are men in lighter habit clad, 
High o'er celestial mountains winged in flight ; 
And men are angels loaded for an hour, 
Who wade this miry vale, and climb, with pain 
And slippery step, the bottom of the steep. 
Angels their failings, mortals have their praise : 
While here, of corps ethereal ; such enrolled 
And summoned to the glorious standard soon, . 
Which flames eternal crimson through the skies ; ' — 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS, 



19 



but I have thought that this was poetic thought, using 
poetic license." 

"It is a noble expression of a r great truth," replied 
Dokeos. "In what do angels and men differ? In 
form ? No ! Every angel that ever appeared to man 
was in the human form. In many places they are 
spoken of both as 'men' and as angels. The three 
who appeared to Abraham are called 'men;' the two 
who appeared to Lot are called ' men;' the angel who 
wrestled with Jacob is called a 'man;' he who appeared 
to Joshua at Jericho, and who described himself as the 
' Captain of the Lord's host,' is called ' a man with a 
drawn sword in his hand ; ' the angel who appeared to 
the wife of Manoah is called a 'man;' the angels w T ho 
appeared to Ezekiel are severally called 'men;' Gabriel 
is described by Daniel as 'the man Gabriel ;' the 
' angel of the Lord' who was seen by Zechariah 6 riding 
on a red horse ' is called a ' man ;' the women who went 
to the sepulchre, on entering in, saw 'a young man, 
clothed in long white garments;' two 'men' also stood 
by them in shining garments, who were 'two angels in 
white.' The seer and apostle in the Revelation identifies 
angels with men; he says that the angel 'measured the 
wall' of the New Jerusalem, 'according to the measure of 
a man, that is, of the angel.' Angels are men in human 
form." 

"The wings with which they are customarily endowed 
by painters ?" 

" Are conventional symbols of earthly art to indicate 
angels, doubtless suggested by the idea of the velocity 
and freedom of angelic movements, their ascending and 
descending, their goings and comings to man," responded 
Dokeos. "Of course there are no little cherubs, mere 
heads and wings, — another conceit of artists." 



20 THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



"The statement is suggestive/' I remarked. "But 
proceed." 

"Angels and men, therefore, do not differ in form," 
resumed Dokeos. "Some undoubtedly were from the 
human race, as Moses and Elias, who ministered to the 
Saviour on the Mount of Transfiguration; or that angel 
who declared to John that ( I am thy fellow-servant, and 
of thy brethren the prophets;' or the innumerable mul- 
titude of all nations and peoples who stood before the 
Lamb, having palms in their hands, who are before the 
throne of God and serve Him day and night in His 
temple, from whose eyes God hath wiped away all tears." 

"In what then/' I asked, "do angels differ from 
man?" 

"Not in form," rejoined Dokeos. "They certainly 
do differ in substance. Angels are immaterial beings, in 
so far as the substance of which their bodies are com- 
posed is not matter, nor is it subject to the laws by 
which all material substances are limited and bound. 
Yet they are substantial entities. Form is the limitation 
of substance, and they have form; substance is that 
which form limits, and they are substantial. To deny 
this is dangerous, for the only logical alternative is that 
an angel is no-thing or nothing, existing no-where. 
There are three degrees of substance, each distinct in its 
qualities: these are Divine, Spiritual, and Material. Of 
the first is God, and we know no more. Of the second 
are angels, and the spirits of men. Of the third is the 
natural body of man while he lives on the earth; and of 
such also are all things which surround man. At death, 
man's spirit is disrobed of its previous material covering, 
and he, too, is then a being, human in form and spiri- 
tual in substance. Then in form and substance man 
becomes 'like unto the angels.' 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 21 

"Do they differ in wisdom? Yes. But the relation 
between man s wisdom and angelic wisdom is that of 
degree alone. Man can, and will, attain to the angelic 
standard, by having developed in him angelic capacities, 
already potentially existing in his soul; and which are 
therefore prophetic of his future state. Do they differ 
in intensity of love ? Yes. But such a difference is like- 
wise due to development; and the development of a good 
man will continue throughout eternity, and thus he will, 
and must, in his power of loving, attain to the stature of 
angelhood. If, therefore, men in the spiritual world and 
angels are similar in form, similar in substance, similar 
in intellectual nature, and similar in their capacity of 
eternal growth in love and wisdom, is it not probable 
that they were similar in their origin; that they were 
similar in the early stages of their history as they are 
similar in their destiny — eternal habitation in the heavens 
of God?" 

"You have, at least, this fact in support of your argu- 
ment/' I observed, "that human attributes are, in the 
Scriptures, always applied to angels." 

"It is true, 5 ' replied Dokeos. " It springs not from any 
fancied necessity of anthropomorphism; it describes an 
actual and objective fact! There is also this additional 
fact, which you previously remarked, that the word 
' angel' is not restricted in its application to heavenly 
beings, but is also applied to John the Baptist, his dis- 
ciples, and others." 

" Origen certainly believed," I added, "that some of 
the angels in heaven had been men on earth, who, as 
he says, had ' passed from the rank of men into that of 
angels,' and that 'other angels in heaven having once 
been men, and having, when in the bodies of men, 
fought the good fight, are become angels of heaven, as 



22 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



certain others again had done before them/ But were 
not some angels created such ? Do we not read of angels 
who existed previously to man?" 

Popular Theories as to the Devil. 

"What are the statements ? ,; asked Dokeos. 

"All those that have suggested the notion of a war in 
heaven, of the rebellion and fall of a third part of the hea- 
venly host, of the existence of the great Tempter, called 
the Devil, and on which the poet Milton has built his 
sublime epic, Paradise Lost," I rejoined. 

"What are the statements?" repeated Dokeos. 

"Such," I rejoined, "as we read of in Jude (ver. 6), 
where he speaks of ' angels which kept not their first 
estate, but left their own habitation,' whom God 'hath 
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the 
judgment of the great day.' Does not Peter also tell us 
that 'God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast 
them down to hell, and delivered them into chains and 
darkness to be reserved unto judgment?' Are we not 
likewise informed, that 'the sons of God saw that the 
daughters of men were fair, and took them wives of all 
which they chose; and that the results of these marriages 
between heavenly and earthly beings were monstrous 
giants, as great in iniquity as in size ? Has not the 
Saviour further implied the existence of angels before 
man when He declares that 'Ye are of your father the 
Devil. . . . He was a murderer from the beginning, 
and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth 
in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his 
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it?' And finally, 
does not the Eternal Himself interrogate Job : 'Whereupon 
are the foundations of the earth fastened? or who laid 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



23 



the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang 
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?' 
Who were these morning stars? Who were these pre- 
earthly sons of God ? Who are the cherubim of the Old 
Testament, and who the four living creatures or ' beasts' 
of the Apocalypse?" 

Dokeos smiled gravely at the impetuosity of my in- 
quiries. Sophos gazed with calm curiosity upon my face 
as I uttered the questions. 

" Is there any other argument in favour of this theory ?" 
asked Dokeos. 

" I can remember none other at this moment," I replied; 
u but doubtless, as we proceed, others will occur to my 
mind/' 

" Examine these statements, Dokeos," said Sophos with 
gentle dignity. " What are they worth ?" 

The Angels who Sinned. 

" We will consider, first, the statements of Jude and 
Peter," said Dokeos. " You will perceive that neither of 
these writers declare as original information the circum- 
stance to which they both refer. They allude to the notion 
as one generally and commonly held at the time. Whence 
then did they, in common with others, obtain the infor- 
mation concerning these sinful angels ? The Scriptures 
give no account of such a circumstance. It is true that 
the Word speaks of the sons of God marrying with the 
daughters of men ; but whatever that may mean, it does 
not imply such a rebellion and fall of angels as is now in 
your thought. If this circumstance is to be understood 
literally, it asserts the sexuality of angels in a remarkable 
manner, a consequence which may be repugnant to your 
present ideas. Jude and Peter did not learn from the 



24 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



inspired book of Genesis this notion of the sinful and 
punished angels ; for while the Book of Genesis describes 
a sin, it says nothing concerning the punishment. But 
we need not waste time in surmises ; for Jude himself, 
a little further on, names a book, the Book of Enoch, and 
quotes from it the words, ' Behold the Lord cometh, with 
ten thousand of His saints.' Do you know anything of 
that book?" 

"Yes/' I rejoined. "It was often mentioned by the 
early Christian writers. It was afterwards supposed to 
be lost. Three hundred years ago a fragment was dis- 
covered by Joseph Scaliger, but which did not contain 
the words of Jude. Hence it was deemed to be not 
genuine. But an Ethiopic version had at length been 
discovered in Abyssinia by Mr. Bruce, the distinguished 
traveller; and it was translated into English by Dr. 
Lawrence. In this version is contained, not only the 
fragment discovered by Joseph Scaliger, but also the 
original of the statement of Jude, as to the angels which 
kept not their first estate." 

" Does not this Book of Enoch assert that the sin of 
the angels was in marrying the daughters of men ; and 
does it not also contain a supposititious history of the angels 
who sinned in this manner ; and does it not furnish a 
description of their punishment ; and does it not likewise 
mention the exact circumstances as to their punishment 
which are referred to by both Peter and Jude ?" 

" I will examine," I replied. 

"Do so," rejoined Dokeos; "and you will find that it 
is there stated that Azael, one of the leaders of the sin- 
ning angels, is ' bound hand and foot, and cast into dark- 
ness, to be brought forth to the burning in the day of 
judgment.' In like manner, Semiazas, another of their 
leaders, is said to be bound with his companions for 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS, 



^5 



6 seventy generations under the hills of the earth, until the 
accomplishment of the age of ages.' So you may read in 
the translation you have spoken of these words : — ( Again 
the Lord said to Raphael, Bind Azazyel hand and foot; 
cast him into darkness ; and opening the desert which is 
in Dudael, cast him in there. Throw upon him hurled 
and pointed stones ; covering him with darkness; there 
shall he remain for ever ; cover his face that he may not 
see the light ; and in the great day of judgment let him 
be cast into the fire! So again you will find there the state- 
ment : 4 To Michael likewise the Lord said, Go and an- 
nounce (his crime) to Samyaza, and to the others who are 
with him, who have been associated with women, that 
they might be polluted with all their impurity. And when 
all their sons shall be slain, when they shall see the per- 
dition of their beloved, bind the7n for seventy generations 
underneath the earth, even to the day of judgment, and of 
consummation, until the judgment, (the effect of) which 
will last for ever, be completed.' Here, then, you may see 
sufficient proof that the whole account of the transaction 
referred to by Peter and Jude is taken from the Book of 
Enoch. 

" Now let us consider the narrative. 

" The transaction itself does not refer to any 'rebellion 
and fall of angels prior to the creation of man;' but to 
something which is said to have occurred since the creation 
of man. The statements, consequently, afford no support 
to your notions of the fire-existence of angels, because the 
sinning angels are said to be not prior existences, but 
contemporaneous with the daughters of men. 

" Nor do these statements lend the slightest coun- 
tenance to the opinion that angels are of a different race 
from men ; but the contrary. If the actual sin was 
literally as described, there must be almost an identity of 



26 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



nature between those angels and those women ; how else 
could there have been offspring from such unions ? The 
law of species is irreversible : creatures of different species 
are infertile as between each other. If the narrative is an 
allegorical statement of something which really did occur, 
you manifestly cannot base any dogma on the symbols 
used in an allegory ; nor can you affix to such symbols 
scientific or historical accuracy. 

"In any case, inasmuch as these sinful angels were 
contemporaries of man," their fall cannot refer to any 
rebellion which took place long prior to man's appear- 
ance on the earth ; and inasmuch as their punishment is 
that they are bound in chains and darkness, these sinful 
angels cannot be the devils and Satans who freely wander 
everywhere, to tempt and destroy mankind. Hence the 
passages you quote from Peter and Jude do not refer to 
any rebellion in heaven prior to the creation of man, and 
do not support the theory that such a rebellion was the 
origin of the Do-evil, the Devil and his angels. " 

"Dokeos, thou hast reasoned well!" said Sophos, 
laying his hand on the other s arm. 

"But," I urged, " peradventure the Book of Enoch is 
one of the inspired Books of the Word ?" 

" It is not," replied Sophos. 

" Peradventure," rejoined Dokeos, "the two Epistles 
themselves must be regarded as apocryphal; and pos- 
sibly the citation from the apocryphal Book of Enoch, as 
though it were inspired, is the clearest proof that they are 
apocryphal?" 

" Many in ancient times did so regard these Epistles," 
I observed, "and Michaelis, among moderns especially, 
so regards the Epistle of Jude." 

" Can you, then, build up a theory as to the pre- 
existence of angels on the no-foundation of a reference 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS, 



27 



by questionable epistles to an allegorical story contained 
in an apocryphal book ; and which story, after all, does 
not assert that the incidents therein described occurred 
prior to man's creation, but, on the contrary, includes 
then living human beings in the sin?" 

" Paul certainly does not guarantee the inspiration or 
correctness of the apocryphal and heathen writers from 
whom he sometimes quotes," I remarked, hesitatingly. 

" True," replied Dokeos, "and even were it shown that 
these two Epistles were genuine, the reference they make 
to a statement currently believed at the time, and quoted 
by the writers as the basis of an argument intended to 
show the certainty of the destruction of false teachers, 
cannot be regarded as any guarantee by them that the 
belief as to the sin of angels and its punishment, so re- 
ferred to, was founded on truth." 

The War in Heaven. 

" But do we not read in the Apocalypse of a war in 
heaven, and of the angels of Michael overcoming the 
Devil and his angels, and that the latter were cast out?" 
I urged. 

"The Apocalypse," replied Dokeos, "was a vision of 
what was still in the future at the time that it was written. 
This war, therefore, was an event which had not then 
occurred ; it was prophecy, not history. How then could 
it refer to some circumstance which had taken place 
long prior to the creation of man ? Surely you cannot 
suppose that there had been a previous war, and that, 
subsequent to John's vision, there was to be a second 
war in heaven. If you do thus suppose, the prophecy 
lends you no support for such a view. Whatever, there- 
fore, the passage may mean, it cannot by any system of 



28 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



wresting be made to refer to the pre-existence of angels. 
The Dragon was ' overcome by the blood of the Lamb, 
and by the word of the testimony' of the angels ; hence 
the events were to take place subsequently to the death 
of the Lamb. The Dragon is called 'the accuser of our 
brethren these brethren were, therefore, contemporary 
with the Dragon. When the Dragon was cast out, he went 
to make war with ' the seed of the woman/ the Church 
of the Saviour, those 6 which keep the commandments of 
God, and have the testimony of Jesus,' and such, conse- 
quently, must be living at the time here spoken of. You 
must not take what was a prophecy of a future event, 
as being the history of a supposed event, said to have 
occurred long antecedent to the creation of man." 

" There are, however, many most important secrets of 
heavenly wisdom contained in the circumstance which 
John predicts," said Sophos ; " but this is not the time to 
consider them. For the immediate purpose of your argu- 
ment, the reply of Dokeos is sufficient." 

The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men. 

" Let us then go back," I said. "What am I to under- 
stand by the sons of God seeing that the daughters of 
men were fair, and taking wives of all they chose ?" 

Sophos replied to me : " The first eleven chapters of 
Genesis are written in the style of an allegory ; every state- 
ment is symbolic and not literal, and can only be rightly 
understood when spiritually interpreted. Literal and 
external history begins in the Word with the account of 
the birth of Abraham. Before that event, the real subject- 
matter of the apparently historical narratives is the de- 
scription of the spiritual states of increasing evil into which 
mankind entered, and through which mankind sunk. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS, 



29 



The spiritual signification of these early chapters can be 
learned from the heavenly Science of Correspondences, 
of which we shall have much to say, and which shows 
that all natural and spiritual things are mutually repre- 
sentative and symbolic, and which arranges and classifies 
these mutually equivalent correspondences. These things 
being premised, we can now examine the narrative to 
which you refer. It describes a state in the descent of the 
Most Ancient Church, which continually and increasingly 
departed from the love of goodness and fidelity to truth. 
Prior to its 'consummation' or destruction, and as tend- 
ing thereto, — representatively described as the deluge, 
— the 'sons of God/ — those doctrines of divine truth 
which the people still retained as matters of knowledge, 
— 'saw the daughters of men,' — mere human lusts, carnal 
appetites, sensual delights, — and accounted them 'fair' — 
desirable and attractive. ' They took them wives of all 
they chose' — they became united with them so as to be 
one. The meaning is, that men associated their know- 
ledges of divine truth with impious lusts, profaned their 
truths with impious sins. This association is represen- 
tatively described as a marriage, and the resulting states 
of evil thoughts and affections are allegorically pictured 
as 'giants/ states of evil which were monstrous, terrible and 
destructive. The way was thus prepared for the 'con- 
summation,' the deluge; the spiritual state of mankind was 
becoming full of iniquity, and rendered the end inevitable. 
Truth and evil were wedded together, 'the sons of God' 
and the ' daughters of men.' The fact, thus allegorically 
described, was a spiritual fact ; it reveals a fatal step in 
the continued fall of mankind." 

"It cannot signify what is literally implied in the 
words," added Dokeos ; "for the intercourse of marriage 
certainly cannot take place between spiritual beings and 



30 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



the material bodies of men or women on earth. Spiri- 
tual and natural bodies belong to different planes of 
existence, and are even invisible to each other." 

" I find that I must relinquish the passage for the pur- 
pose I adduced it," I said. " I will meditate on your 
statement. Meanwhile, what must I conclude from the 
words of the Lord as to the Devil ?" 

The Devil a Murderer from the Beginning. 

" If the Devil were 'a murderer from the beginning] how 
can he have been created an angel of light?" demanded 
Dokeos. " If ' there was no truth in him/ or more strictly, 
if ' the truth is not in him/ how can you construe these 
words to mean that for long ages the truth was in him, 
and that he afterwards fell from the truth ? The phrase ' he 
abode not in the truth ' may lead to a misapprehension, 
as seeming to imply that he was once in the truth but 
did not remain therein. The word translated abode is 
more strictly rendered stood, i he stood not in the truth/ 
which agrees more completely with the context that i the 
truth is not in him.' A dilemma is involved in the pas- 
sage. Must we suppose that God made him a devil from 
the beginning, although temporarily appearing as an angel 
of light, and that he fell because he was made by God to 
be a devil and a murderer from the beginning ? In this 
case, God was truly the author and originator of evil ! Must 
we not understand the Lord to here speak of the principle 
of evil as it is in its own essential nature, or as represen- 
tatively personified as the Do-evil, the Devil. Thus to 
personify evil does not show that there is an actual per- 
sonification of evil. There is no one great terrible Anti- 
God; no one supreme ruler of hell, who is either uncreated 
and self-existent, and to this extent equal, though anta- 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



3i 



gonistic, to God ; or who was created by the Infinite Wis- 
dom and Goodness. There is not a passage in the whole of 
the Old Testament in which mention is made of a devil ; 
the word ' devils' occurs four times. There are devils 
many, as there are angels many ; but every one of these 
devils was once a man on earth, who became such by the 
voluntary and continued violation of Divine laws. God 
did not prepare a hell for men who become devils : men 
make their own hells and fling themselves thereinto. Yet 
all devils, considered as forming one great aggregate evil 
power, are often spoken of as the Devil, the principle of 
evil as embodied in the persons of all who love and 
cherish evil. The Devil from the beginning, therefore, 
means the principle of evil in its deepest and inmost 
ground. It was ever a 6 murderer/ seeking to destroy all 
spiritual life in the hearts of the children of men. It is 
essentially an c Apollyon,' an exterminator, dealing forth 
spiritual death/ This principle of evil, further, is ' a liar 
and the father of lies ;' because all evil gives birth to 
falsity. Evil itself is a lie and calumny against the Eternal 
Goodness ; when it takes form in thought, or utterance 
in dogma, it is a lie and calumny against the Eternal 
Truth — a liar and the father of lies." 



No Personal Devil. 

" There is, then, no arch-fiend, no personal Devil?" I 
asked. 

"There is not," replied Dokeos. "I have already 
told you that the word ' devil' nowhere occurs in the Old 
Testament. The word 'devils' occurs four times. The 
Israelites were forbidden to offer sacrifices unto ' devils' 
(Lev. xvii. 7); but this injunction really means that they 
should not sacrifice to unclean spirits, infernal disposi- 



3^ 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



tions, desires, or lusts, represented by or personified in 
the deities of the idolatrous nations around them. The 
original word (Sgnirim) is derived from the word Sgnir, 
meaning literally 'the hair of the head,' and which came 
to signify a hairy one, a goat of a hairy kind, which also 
is the symbol of unclean lust. Such 'hairy ones' were the 
Satyrs; and of these mongrel monsters, partly human 
and partly bestial, the heathen deity Pan was the repre- 
sentative, as the type of fecundity or fruitfulness. So 
Jeroboam, when the Levites fled to Judah and Jerusalem, 
ordained for himself 'priests for the high places and for 
the devils' (2 Chron. xi. 13-17). They were these 'hairy 
ones,' these supposititious deities of the idolaters. In the 
other two passages the word Sheedim is used, a word which 
is derived from Sheed, signifying breasts, or to pour forth" 

"Parkhurst says," I intruded, "that 'as a noun mas- 
culine plural it was the name given by the Hebrews to 
the idols worshipped by the inhabitants of Canaan.' 
Isis was one of these Sheedim, one of the 'many-breasted' 
ones; so also was Diana, on the statues of which was 
inscribed 'all various nature, mother of all things.' The 
statues of these goddesses preserved and imaged the 
'many-breasted' appellation." 

"True," rejoined Dokeos; "under such representations 
the heathens personified prolific principles in nature, and 
worshipped nature under symbols of their own devising. 
When Israel sank to the same degraded level 'they 
sacrificed unto devils, and not to God' (Deut xxxii. 17); 
the word 'devils' is here Sheedim. So the Psalmist de- 
clares, 'They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to 
devils {Sheedim), and shed innocent blood, even the 
blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they 
sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan : and the land was pol- 
luted with blood' (Psa. cvi. 36, 37). There is in all these 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



33 



statements the plural idea, that of there being 'devils'; but 
no intimation of there being one almost omnipotent, 
omniscient, and omnipresent evil spirit who is emphati- 
cally the Devil." 

" But the name and idea of Satan is to be found in the 
Old Testament," I said. 

"That branch of the subject we will consider pre- 
sently," replied Dokeos. " We are now speaking of the 
word devil" 

"Come to the New Testament, Dokeos," I observed. 
"Surely the idea is therein taught." 

"It is not taught therein," he replied. "You are 
aware, no doubt, that the words 'devil' and 'devils' 
occur in the English translation of the New Testament 
about one hundred and twenty times. Of these, thirty- 
eight are in the Greek diabolos and diaboloi, the original 
meaning of which is the False Accuser, the Calumniator. 
But, as you also- know, this word diabolos, or in its plural 
form diaboloi, is also used as a common noun to de- 
scribe a false accuser, a calumniator : the wives of deacons 
must be 'grave, not slanderers (diaboloi), faithful in all 
things' (t Tim. hi. n); the aged women are to be not 
' false accusers,' diaboloi (Titus ii. 3) ; in the perilous 
times then to come, men should be, among other evil 
things, 'false accusers,' diaboloi (2 Tim. iii. 1-3) ; one of 
the twelve apostles was a devil, — a false accuser, diabolos 
(Johnvi. 70); this spirit or disposition of false accusation, 
this devil, put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray 
the Lord (John xiii. 2). The accusing spirit, or disposi- 
tion, has been misconceived to be a great accusing spirit, or 
being. So again Elymas the sorcerer is called ' a child of 
the devil' (uie diabolou), a child of sin and iniquity, desiring 
to murder goodness and to generate lies, being of the 
state characterised by our Saviour as that of a murderer 

c 



34 THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



from the beginning, the father of lies. This does not say- 
that there is a personal Devil, and that Elymas was his son. 

"When Peter wrote 'Be sober, be vigilant; because 
your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh 
about seeking whom he may devour ' (i Pet. v. 8), he 
did not write of some great semi-divine enemy of man- 
kind, but of human false accusers, an adversary, antidikos, 
an opponent at law, who would accuse them to the civil 
magistrate, and charge them with the violation of moral 
or legal duty : it means that ' your opponent, the false 
accuser, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he 
may devour.' The common noun, ' false accuser,' has 
been deemed to be a proper name or noun of title, be- 
longing to an individual entity, some supreme devil. 
The use of this word in the plural indicates that there 
are many devils : the notion of lifting one of these into 
supremacy over all the rest, is the offspring of a merely 
classifying imagination." 

"The enemy which sowed tares is the Devil? I 
remarked. 

" The spirit of disobedience working in the hearts of the 
children of men," answered Dokeos, "which began to 
work, and so introduced evil, and which still worketh, 
and will work; but 'the spirit of disobedience' is a dif- 
ferent thing from a great disobedient Spirit; yet out of 
the one conception, which is true, has grown the other, 
which is not true." 

"The seed on the wayside were caught away by the 
Devil," I urged. 

"The spirit of indifference, callousness, and selfish 
love, which prevents truth finding even a lodgment in 
the soul," returned Dokeos. "Why should you seek for 
an agency external to man, to explain facts for which the 
internal furniture of the soul is fully adequate?" 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



35 



"Nay," said Sophos, gently interposing, "the influence 
of evil spirits on the thoughts and affections of man is 
beyond question, and it is terrible. But the circum- 
stance you refer to does not show the existence of a per- 
sonal and supreme Fiend." 

"True, O Sophos !" replied Dokeos. 

"The Devil, diabolos, who tempted the Saviour in the 
wilderness," I asked, "what of him?" 

"A mighty evil spirit," said Sophos, "one of many 
with whom the Lord had to fight, and whom He overcame, 
during the temptation-combats of which His life was full, 
before He could take 'the keys of hell and death.' This 
was# devil who sought to inject into the Saviour's soul 
the evil promptings represented by the three temptations, 
and which the Lord rejected by means of the written 
Word; falling not in this, or in any other temptation, though 
He was ' tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without 
sin.' God is a God of order, ever operating for the pro- 
duction of what is good. His laws when known consti- 
tute, in relation to man, the Truth. If there were such 
a Devil as you have conceived, he would be either equal 
to God, or second only to God. If equal to God, he 
could not have been created : and then, there would be 
two deities, a good deity, and an evil one : but this is a 
fancy of delusion. If he be second only to God, God 
must have created him,, and thus the All-Good would be 
the parent of that which is altogether evil: He must 
thereby have acted contrarily to His own nature; He 
must therein have violated His own law of order, and 
have produced Disorder! No such contrariety can 
exist in God. A house divided against itself cannot 
stand." 

"But if devils exist and they did not produce them- 
selves, God is the author of evil in their case," I urged. 



36 THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 

"Not so," rejoined Sophos, "for though they did not 
produce themselves, they did make themselves devils, 
having been endowed with the universal human preroga- 
tive, the power of free choice. Yet is their ability limit- 
ed, not unlimited ; and their wisdom is cunning. Their 
states are direful, and their animosity relentless ; but were 
they all combined in one vast phalanx, they altogether 
would not constitute such a power as is conceived of by 
those who speak of a personal devil. It is not against 
the existence and operation of devils that Dokeos has 
been contending; but against the existence of some 
supreme lord and ruler over hell, — as though all the hells 
were in such a condition of order and subordination as 
to permit the sovereign rule of any of even the worst 
devil of them all ! No. Each devil desires to be the 
head, and deems himself the only fit person to be the 
head, and is ready to destroy any who claim authority 
over him. This is the inevitable outbirth of the lust of 
spiritual dominion — the most infernal of all lusts. Dis- 
order reigns in hell because there is no headship acknow- 
ledged, and no obedience rendered. It is only where the 
love of service, of ministration, and of use rules, that true 
order and loving subordination can be found : it is only 
in heaven that one grand Head and Ruler is acknow- 
ledged, which Ruler and Head is the Lord. In recog- 
nising worth the angels worship; they evince their wis- 
dom in submitting to the Wisest; their love of goodness 
in obeying the Best." 

The Demons. 

"And what, Dokeos, of the other eighty-two passages 
in the New Testament in which devil and devils occur 
in our English version ?" I asked. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



37 



"Three words are therein used in the Greek," replied 
Dokeos; "two of these are derived from the first. They 
are daimon, from which come daimonion, and daimonizo- 
mai. The first occurs only five times (in Matt. viii. 3 1 ; 
Mark v. 12; Luke viii. 29; Rev. xvi. 14, xviii. 2); the 
second, sixty-four times ; the third, thirteen times. The 
word daimon is rendered ' devil,' though more frequently 
used in the plural, ' devils '; the word daimonion means 
the person who was possessed by the daimon, or devil, 
the demoniac ; and the passive verb, daimonizomai, means 
to be possessed by a daimon. What were these ' demons'? 
All Greek literature plainly indicates that they were 
'the human spirits of departed people.' These were 
not necessarily bad spirits; for some of them were sup- 
posed to have been deified, and were even worshipped. 
Homer calls all his gods 'demons;' and Hesiod, 'the 
worthies of the golden age/ Hesiod maintains that 
whenever a good man dies he becomes a demon; and 
Plato praises him for the sentiment. The 'demon' of 
Socrates must surely be familiar to you. The Greeks 
and the Latins believed in the existence of evil demons, 
and in the possibility of 'possession;' as did also the 
Jews. Josephus says that 'those called daimonia are the 
spirits of wicked men who enter the living, and kill those 
who have no help.' Exorcists of these demons were 
known to all three peoples. Hence the Jews said of the 
Saviour, 'He casteth out demons by Beelzebub, the 
prince of demons;' meaning, that He cast out inferior 
demons by aid of superior demons, or by the assistance 
of their Prince. The existence of these demons, there- 
fore, only confirms what we have told you before, that 
all devils were once men." 

"But this Beelzebub," I asked, "does not his descrip- 
tion apply to the supreme devil?" 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



"Yes, if the statement of the unbelieving Pharisees 
that he is 'the prince of demons ' is adequate authority^' 
rejoined Dokeos. "Their referring the Lord's power to 
this source at least showed that the fact of possession 
and the practice of exorcism were not an astonishment 
to them. This is farther shown in the story of Sceva 
and his sons, exorcists (Acts xix. 13, 14) : but the opinion 
of these Pharisees as to whence the Lord's power was 
derived can hardly furnish a sufficient basis for believing 
in a personal arch-fiend. Who, then, was this Beelze- 
bub, the so-called ' Prince of demons?' He was 'the 
god of Ekron/ to whom Ahaziah, the King of Israel, 
sent messengers to ask whether he would recover from 
his disease (2 Kings i. 2). The word zebub, or zebul, 
means a fly, the god of which was worshipped at Ekron. 
But Baal-zebub, a 6 god of flies,' is clearly traceable be- 
yond the limits of Asia Minor; for one of the Greek 
designations of Jupiter was muiddes, 'the god of flies,' 
and another was muiagros, 'the fly hunter.' Unless, 
then, you acknowledge that Jupiter was the ruler of the 
gods, and also 'the god of flies,' you cannot contend 
that Baal-zebub, the Syrian form of the same idea, was 
the ' prince of the demons,' for which, indeed, you have, 
in the New Testament, only the authority of the unbe- 
lieving Pharisees.'' 

"In every widely diffused and predominant notion 
adopted by men as a religious belief," said Sophos, " there 
is a germ of truth; though it may be overlaid by a host 
of superstitions, often gross, often grotesque, and always 
fanciful. It has been thus with the demonology of the 
ancients. Within this apparently most fanciful of super- 
stitions have been preserved four great truths : that men 
continue to live after the death of the body ; that the 
spirits of good men become angels, termed by them 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



39 



'good demons / that the spirits of wicked men become 
'evil demons;' that an association is maintained by such 
spirits with man, the good spirits influencing mankind to 
good ends, and the wicked for evil and injurious pur- 
poses. These are unquestionable and important truths. 
When we sift away the chaff, the grain remains ; and the 
'daemons' of Hesiod and Plato, the Cerriti and Larvati 
of the Latins, and the daimonai of the Jews, serve but as 
so many separate but mutually corroborating witnesses, 
testifying to the great facts of the continued existence 
of man beyond the grave, and his ability to influence the 
minds and wills of men on earth." 

" The argument is most instructive, and it certainly ap- 
pears to me to be complete," I exclaimed. 

"It is therefore probable, despite all objections/' re- 
sumed Dokeos, " that ' demons,' daimones, were so named 
from daio, ' to distribute,' because these spirits occupied 
a middle position between the gods and men on earth, 
and 'distributed' the favours of the gods to men. They 
had been men, these 'demons,' for their parentage was 
often even traced. Saturn, Jupiter, Apollo, and others, 
the secondary gods of Paganism, may have been no more 
than, as Diodorus Siculus says, 'illustrious men;' accord- 
ing to his own distinction, 'there are two classes of gods, 
the one eternal and immortal, the other such as were 
born on the earth, and who arrived at the titles and 
honours of divinity on account of the blessings they 
bestowed on mankind.'* The deities of the Northmen 
were a group of great heroes, lawgivers, and warriors ; and 
as Philo Biblius, the translator of Sanchoniathon's History 
of the Gods, states, ' the Phoenicians and Egyptians, from 
whom other peoples derived this custom, reckoned those 
among the greatest gods who had been benefactors to the 

* Lib. i. and v. 



4o 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



human race ; and that to them they erected pillars and 
statues, and dedicated sacred festivals.' n * 

" It appears reasonable as an hypothesis," I remarked, 
" and sufficiently established by testimony.' , 

"Or, as Plato remarks," added Dokeos, "'All those 
who die valiantly in war are of Hesiod's golden generation, 
and become daemons ; and we ought for ever to worship 
and adore their sepulchres as the sepulchres of dsemons.'t 
The orgies of Walhalla of the Scandinavians is but the 
Northern, and the Moslem paradise for the brave is but 
the more modern and Eastern, echo of the world-wide 
conception. To find the universal thought as evidenced 
and illustrated in the never-ending variety of its phases, 
this is true wisdom. It is to subsidize the universe and 
compel all things to pay tribute to the eternal truth." 

Satan not the Name of One Great Special Fiend. 

" One part of this topic yet remains untouched," I 
observed. " Does not the use of the name ' Satan' imply 
that there is some great prevailing fiend?" 

"The word Satan occurs seventeen times in the Old, 
and thirty-six times in the English translation of the 
Scriptures," said Dokeos; "but it also occurs fourteen 
times in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, translated 
' adversary' or ' adversaries.' Wherever it occurs in the 
English, it is the original Hebrew word left untrans- 
lated. Your question is, — Is this word 'Satan' the 
name of a great and terrible evil spirit? I answer, 
No. There are several proofs of this. It is used in 
the plural form, 'Satans,' as well as in the singular. 
The sons of Zeruiah are thus spoken of as adversaries 

* Apud Eusebius, Praep. Evangelica, lib. i. c. ix. p. 32. 
f Plato, de Republica, c. v. 468, torn. ii. editio Serrani. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



41 



— ; Satans' — unto David (2 Sam. xix. 22); so David 
prays, ' Let them be confounded and consumed that are 
adversaries — " Satans" — to my soul' (Psa. lxxi. 13); ' For 
my love they are my adversaries — "Satans" — but I give 
myself unto prayer' (Psa. cix. 4) ; ' Let this be the reward 
of my adversaries — " Satans" — and of them that speak evil 
of my souP (ver. 20). If every adversary is a Satan, and 
there are many Satans, the name cannot exclusively belong 
to one great fiend. The word is also applied to men, and 
that too without implying that they were wicked men, as 
in the case of the sons of Zeruiah. David also is spoken 
of as a possible adversary — 'Satan' — to the Philistines 
(1 Sam. xxix. 4). Solomon sent a message to Hiram, 
King of Tyre, in which he states that he had no adversary 
— ' Satan' (1 Kings v. 2-4). Hadad the Edomite is de- 
scribed as an adversary — 'Satan' — to Solomon, 'stirred up 
by the Lord' (1 Kings xi. 14). So we read that God 
stirred up another adversary — 'Satan' — to King Solomon, 
Rezon the son of Eliadah (1 Kings xi. 23), who was an 
adversary — 'Satan' — to Solomon all his days (ver. 28). 
The word Satan is even applied to the angel of the Lord 
who appeared to Balaam, 'Behold I went out to be an 
adversary — "a Satan" — unto thee,because thy way is per- 
verse before me' (Numb. xxii. 23). This must convince 
you that the word Satan is not the proper name of any 
one terrible evil spirit." 

" True," I answered, " and yet, is it not applied as a 
name to the evil spirit who tempted Job, and who was 
permitted to test his faith?" 

" The word Satan occurs in the Book of Job twelve 
times. But that book is a dramatic poem, and the con- 
verting into a proper name of a common noun, the 
speaking of an adversary as the Adversary \ is in harmony 
with the purpose and structure of the poem. You can- 



43 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



not seriously believe that such colloquies as are therein 
described did actually and literally take place between 
the Infinite Majesty on high and some arch-fiend named 
Satan?" 

" No," I replied. " I cannot believe that. Yet is it 
not possible that the name of our great enemy is Satan, 
and that thence it comes that all adversaries are termed 
'Satans'?" 

"Is it not more probable," asked Dokeos, "that as 
' Satan' means adversary, the word gradually became in- 
dividualized as representing the great adversary of man's 
soul?" 

"The great enemy of man's spiritual welfare," said 
Sophos, "is the love of self; whatever falsity panders 
to this love is truly the ' Satan' of his soul." 

" Hence Peter," resumed Dokeos, " though he immedi- 
ately before had confessed the Saviour to be the Son of God, 
when he, unable to understand that only suffering sancti- 
fies, rebuked the Lord, was addressed, 'Get thee behind 
Me, Satan' (Matt. xvi. 23). He was for the moment an 
opponent, an 'adversary' of the Lord, who declared that 
' he savoured not the things that be of God, but those 
that be of men.' What can we think of Paul's ' thorn in 
the flesh,' which he says was a 'messenger of Satan' to 
buffet him, lest he 'should be exalted above measure'? 
In the original it is 'an angel, Satan,' the word 'of' not 
being expressed or implied. Surely this was not 'an 
angel of Satan' in the literal sense of the words ! The 
woman who had 'a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years,' 
and whom the Saviour cured, is spoken of by Him as one 
' whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years.' Can 
you think that the Arch-enemy had really and directly 
caused this woman's bodily infirmity? The Church at 
Smyrna is said to have had 'a synagogue of Satan.' 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



Satan's seat, or throne, and Satan's dwelling-place are said 
to have been at Pergamos. Construe these words literally, 
and you produce nonsense. Understand ' Satan' to mean 
what is adverse to divine truth, all falsity, and then to say 
that Satan's throne was in Pergamos, and his synagogue at 
Smyrna, is to declare an intelligible and important fact. 
Vice may sit on a throne or dwell in a synagogue ; but 
Vice is an evil quality here personified, not a real person, 
called by that name, actually sitting on a throne or dwell- 
ing in a building. In the same way, the faithful in 
Thyatira are said not to have ' known the depths of Satan,' 
the secret falsities into which evil leads. Paul says he 
would have gone to Thessalonica, 'but Satan hindered us' 
(2 Thess. ii. 17, 18), meaning adverse circumstances. In 
this general and impersonal sense it is said of Peter, 'Satan 
hath desired you/ So it is said of Judas Iscariot that 
'Satan' entered into him, or, in another Gospel, 'the Devil 
entered into his heart,' meaning, not a personal being so 
named, but an evil affection and a false principle, excited 
no doubt by devils and satans, leading him to become a 
false accuser, ' a devil/ and an adversary, 6 a satan.' So 
the delivering up of a wicked and unbelieving man 'to 
Satan,' means the ceasing to exhort or reprove him, relin- 
quishing him unchecked to evil and to falsity. So Satan 
is said to tempt to incontinence. Other 6 workings of 
Satan' are also described. So likewise at the conver- 
sion of Paul, he was told he must turn people 'from dark- 
ness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that 
they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance 
among them which are sanctified.' In all these passages 
the falsity and evil are implied, but not the existence of 
a great Devil whose name is Satan." 

" But the Saviour said, ' I beheld Satan as lightning fall 
from heaven.' Does not this imply a personal being so 



44 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



named, who once dwelt in heaven, and who was cast out 
thence?" I asked. 

" These words/' interposed Sophos, " were said when 
the seventy disciples returned and declared that they 
had cast out demons in the Lord's name. The words 
are followed by the promise, ' Behold, I give unto you 
power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the 
power of the enemy.' Are these latter words to be under- 
stood literally ? Had the Lord's disciples power to tread 
on literal scorpions and serpents ? Were natural serpents 
and scorpions what is meant by the ' power of the enemy'? 
No. Must you then understand the first statement 
literally, and the context figuratively, or must you not 
construe the whole figuratively and spiritually? ' Satan' 
means all false principles which would destroy faith, 
overturn the Word, and lead to the rejection of God and 
the confirmation of evil. Such were cast down from hea- 
ven, no longer permitted to infest the human soul, or to 
assail the dwellers in the lower heaven. The 'serpents' 
on which power was given to tread signify the grovelling 
affections of the sensual mind; the 'scorpions' typify the 
false principles springing from sensual lusts. The whole 
passage declares, what we shall more fully talk upon, the 
Lord's subjugation of the hells, and judgment on the 
spirits in the world of spirits." 

" The Lord came to subdue all affections and principles 
'adverse' to genuine human happiness," added Dokeos, 
" and the defeat of such evil affections is represented by 
His casting out of 'devils;' and deliverance from such 
false principles is described by 'Satan' falling from heaven. 
Even ordinary commentators have recognised that in 
'the use of the imperfect tense, and in the force of the 
context, the Saviours words must refer to the triumph of 
the disciples over the demons."' 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



45 



Michael and the Dragon. 

" There still remain/' I remarked, " the three state- 
ments in the Revelation : that referring to the battle in 
heaven between the angels of Michael and those of the 
dragon, the old serpent, called the Devil and Satan ; that 
referring to his being bound in the bottomless pit ; and 
that referring to his being loosed, tempting and deceiving 
the nations, and afterwards being cast into the lake of 
fire and brimstone. What do these things mean?" 

" The fourfold appellation, 'the dragon, the old serpent, 
called the Devil and Satan/ is given in two of the three 
passages," replied Dokeos. " It is, however, clear that 
'dragon' and 'old serpent' are not names, but descriptive 
appellations : so also Devil and Satan are descriptive 
appellations, denoting evil and falsity in the complex or 
aggregate. The_ powers of evil and falsity were to be 
arrayed against the powers of goodness and truth, the 
dragon and his emissaries against Michael and his emis- 
saries, the hosts of heaven against the hordes of hell, and 
in such a struggle who could doubt the issue? On both 
sides the names are the personifications of principles. 
There is no one great angel called Michael: there is no 
one great fiend called Satan. Truth fights against falsity 
and triumphs ; goodness battles against evil and over- 
comes. All four principles are personified, spoken of as 
persons, goodness and truth as Michael, evil and falsity 
as the Devil and Satan: in contending that they are per- 
sons, you are in danger of forgetting the Divine symbolism 
of the Word, and lose altogether its real meaning." 

"But 'the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil 
and Satan/ is spoken of as him when he is said to be 
bound for a thousand years," I urged. 

" Surely, you will not contend that all things which are 



46 THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



personified, either in the Word or in literature, and 
which therefore are spoken of as 'he or him, she or her,' 
must therefore be persons. You might as well contend 
that Wisdom is a woman because it is so personified in 
the Book of Proverbs," replied Dokeos ; " or that the 
Church is a person because she is called the Bride, the 
Lamb's Wife." 

"The words 'Devil' and 'Satan,'" added Sophos, "like 
man, woman, or angel, are nouns signifying either a mul- 
titude, or an individual. No one man is The Man, no 
one woman is The Woman, no one angel is The Angel, to 
exclusion of all others ; and, in like manner, no one devil 
or Satan is The Devil or The Satan. All who inwardly 
are evil, and thence in falsity, are devils ; all who are in 
falsity, and thence are evil, are Satans ; so also, all those 
spirits who thought that they should be saved merely be- 
cause they had believed in the Saviour, and whose lives 
gave the lie to their profession, are signified by 'the 
dragon,' the hypocritical crocodile grovelling in moral 
slime, despite its wings of intelligence : and all they who 
had been stink in sensual and corporeal lusts are denoted 
by ' the old serpent.' All these were to be bound, sepa- 
rated from others, cast into the bottomless pit, till the 
end of the judgment in the World of spirits ; when, 
finally, they should find their only congenial home in the 
ever-burning lake, not in Hades, but in Gehenna" 

"But to me these are novel distinctions and strange 
thoughts," I exclaimed. " They overwhelm and confuse 
me." 

" You will remember and can ponder them. Besides, 
we shall converse more fully of all these things," said 
Sophos. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



47 



The Morning Stars and Sons of God. 

" Let us, then, go back," I said. " We were speaking 
of the origin of angels, and I had quoted the Lord's 
words to Job, 6 Where wast thou when I laid the foun- 
dations of the earth ? Whereupon are the foundations 
thereof fastened ? or who laid the corner-stone thereof; 
when the morning stars sang together, and the sons of 
God shouted for joy?'" 

" Are these words to be literally understood ? " asked 
Dokeos. "Has the earth actual foundations, and a 
literal corner-stone ? Are angels c morning stars' ? The 
words are figurative and symbolic. The morning stars 
are said to have sung together at the creation of this 
world, in the same sense as that expressed in the phrase 
'the music of the spheres.' The sons of God are said to 
have shouted for joy in the same sense as the fields are said 
to ■ smile with harvest/ or the trees to ' clap their hands.' 
The Lord promised to them that overcame among the 
Church at Thyatira that He would give them 6 the morning 
star' (Rev. ii. 28). This surely does not mean that He will 
give them any pre-existent angel, or that He would give 
them a world. He also describes Himself as the 6 morn- 
ing star' (Rev. xxii. 16) ; the promise must therefore 
mean that He will give them Himself ! " 

" But we read the exclamation, 6 How art thou fallen 
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou 
cast down to the ground which didst weaken the nations' 
(Isa. xiv. 12). Does not this refer to the fall of one of 
the angels, and prove his pre-existence ? Pardon me if 
I seem to recur to a previous topic, but I long to see 
clearly," I said. 

"The prophet is describing the destruction of Babylon," 
replied Dokeos, "and, as though to render such a misin- 



43 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



terpretation impossible, in the same prediction this 'day 
star' {Lucifer is the name given by translators) is said to 
be 1 a man/ who personifies Babylon in its greatness, its 
pride, and in its fate; as the whole chapter plainly 
shows." 

" Babylon," interposed Sophos, " like the earlier Babel, 
and also the Babylon of the Apocalypse, is the symbol 
in the Word for the lust of ruling the hearts, minds, and 
consciences of men. It is the perversion of the holy 
principle of self-dominion, having rule over all the facul- 
ties, desires, and dispositions of the lower nature. This 
self-dominion was represented by man's early £ dominion 
over the beasts of the earth, fowls of the air, fish of the 
sea, and over all things which creep upon the earth.' 
In this high condition, the principle of self-dominion 
was indeed the 6 day star,' a 6 son of the morning ;' how 
fallen it became, when it was perverted and grew to be 
Babylon, you can easily discern." 

"I am indeed instructed, O Sophos!" I exclaimed. 
"Tell me, then, what is the inner meaning of the words 
in Job?" 

"Their proper and highest reference," rejoined So- 
phos, "is to the spiritual creation, or regeneration of 
man. The 6 corner-stone ' of the earth of man's spiritual 
nature is the Lord Jesus Christ ; the ' stars of the morn- 
ing' and the ' sons of God' are the new perceptions of 
Divine Love and Wisdom which arise and shine in the 
mind; and their singing together and shouting for joy 
denote the rejoicing of soul inspired by these new per- 
ceptions of goodness and truth. In the joy infused into 
the heart by reason of its new realizations of Divine love 
and mercy, all angels partake; for — behold !" 

I started at this ejaculation, and looked up. Then I 
heard a burst of sound, as of a wondrous chorus of voice? 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 49 

blended in thrilling harmony; and I saw, as written in 
letters of burning gold, upon a milk-white scroll, the ever 
memorable words : — 

There is joy in the presence of the Angels of 
God over one Sinner that repenteth.* 

As I gazed, the words melted away ; but it seemed to 
me henceforth that still greater majesty dwelt in and 
around Sophos. I was awed and silenced. For a time 
I lost the power of questioning, and felt disposed only to 
hear and to ponder. 

The Temptation and Fall of Man. 

After a pause, Dokeos resumed : — " It is remarkable 
that so large a portion of the supposed proofs of the 
pre-existence of angels is based on the supposed prior 
existence of evil spirits. Men have toiled to rake up 
from the bottomless pit satisfactory evidences of angelic 
pre-existence. I marvel that you have not remembered 
the mazes of confused and intertangled thought, by which 
many have laboured to connect the supposed pre-existent 
devil with the serpent, which, in the allegorical account 
of the Fall, is said to have tempted the first parents of 
mankind. " 

" I am surprised that the topic escaped me," I an- 
swered, aroused at once. "But if evil originated with 
the Fall, of course the tempter could not have been a 
pre-existent devil. Yes, let us come to that subject — 
What is the origin of evil ? " 

"If the origin of evil on earth is a problem," said 
Dokeos, " how much greater problem would be the origin 

* Luke xv. 10. 
D 



5o 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



of evil in heaven I If it seem difficult to explain how 
man came to fall, how much more difficult would it be to 
explain how angels could fall ! They who think they get 
rid of the difficulties connected with the fall of man by 
conceiving that he was tempted by a devil, forget that 
they have only increased the mystery. They prompt the 
question, — What devil tempted the angels who, they 
imagine, trangressed and were cast out? Such theorists 
must be driven to a belief in a long series of devils, 
originating either in the will of God, or in some eternally 
existing Evil Principle or Anti-God, some Persian Ahri- 
man, or some Gnostic hyleP 

"All things which the Lord made were 'good'; the 
full development and the orderly arrangement of His 
works were ' very good/ " added Sophos. " Evil is not 
a substance, or a substantial entity; it was not, there- 
fore, among the creations of God. It is a state, not a 
substance; and the evil state is that of perversion, — 
something wrested aside from its Divinely intended 
purpose, and forced into directions more or less fully 
opposed thereto. It is a disturbance of a Divine ar- 
rangement, a disbalancing of a divinely adjusted propor- 
tion ; no more than this. In the Divine allegory of the 
Fall, this disturbance is said to have been effected by 
the subtlety of the serpent : man ceased to be its ruler, 
and became its slave; it ceased to occupy the low 
position assigned to it from the beginning, and became 
the counsellor, director, and master of man. I have pre- 
viously told you that the whole of the first eleven chapters 
of Genesis are purely allegorical." 

"Yes, and I await with eagerness confirmations and 
illustrations of this important statement," I rejoined. 

" Before we ask what in man the serpent represents," 
said Sophos, " prove to him, Dokeos, that there is no 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



connection even hinted at between the serpent and some 
pre-existent devil.'' 

"Nothing is more evident," said Dokeos. "No men- 
tion is made of such a devil assuming the serpent's form. 
The subtlety is said to be the serpent's own. It was 
the serpent that tempted the woman, and the woman 
seduced the man. It was the serpent that was cursed ; 
the serpent that had thenceforth to go upon its belly and 
to eat dust. It was the serpent that should bruise the 
heel of the Seed of the woman, and whose head should 
be bruised by Him. Further, it is equally evident that 
this is the language of allegory ; for the literal serpent 
ever did go on its belly, and it never did eat dust; it 
did not literally bruise the heel of the Saviour, 6 the Seed 
of the woman ; ' nor did He literally bruise its head." 

"The place which the serpent has occupied in the 
myths of all ancient races, the reverence it has inspired, 
and even the worship it has received, prove that the 
ancients regarded it as a symbol," added Sophos. 

" I cannot refute this fact," I answered. " Pray ex- 
plain the allegory." 

" Man possesses, and must ever have possessed, vari- 
ous planes of life, spiritual, rational, and natural; these 
are severally represented in the Word by living forms ; 
the lowest of these planes is the sensual, that plane of life 
which takes^cognizance of outside appearances of things, 
receives sensations, and is the subject of sensuous and sen- 
sual emotions. These things are all good in themselves, 
when occupying the position originally assigned to them 
by the Creator. They become evil when the balance and 
arrangement is disturbed, and when, ceasing to be subor- 
dinate, they becomejDaramount. The introduction of such 
a disturbance is a perversion of the Divine purpose and 
arrangement : such an introduction of perversion is the 



52 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



origin of evil. The sensual plane of life is represented 
by the serpent : it is grove/ling, for it is the lowest plane 
of life ; it is subfile, because of the inevitable tendency 
of a merely finite intelligence to rest satisfied with the 
appearances of things, and to desire to rise no higher ; 
it was intended to be subordinate, and it usurped the 
function of directing man. He confided in the appear- 
ances of truth, and thus rejected the actual truth ; he 
accepted what it presented as the best and highest, and 
thus forfeited the highest and best. His senses and 
their delights became his chosen good instead of God. 
They soon tyrannized over him as his master ; he speedily 
became their slave. So he fell." Thus spake Sophos. 

I inclined my head, intimating that I followed him, and 
he resumed : — 

" The serpent first addressed the womanly, the affec- 
tional, part of man's nature, his will, who saw that the 
forbidden fruit was 'pleasant to the eye and good for food, 
and desirable to make one wise/ so that man might be 
a God to himself, owning no superior, and owing no obe- 
dience of intellect, heart or life; and the will, 'the woman,' 
did eat. The will seduced the manly, the rational, the in- 
tellectual part of the human constitution, which shared the 
guilt of the will by conniving at the sin, and he did eat. 
The fall was both affectional and intellectual: the man 
had rejected God. Still some recollections of goodness 
remained, and, conscience-stricken, man fled from the 
presence of the Lord, the light of truth which yet shone 
in human minds. Then came the dire consciousness of 
the cause : the serpent in him was cursed, the sensual 
nature to which he had yielded should itself grovel still 
lower and lower, and feed, and strive to fatten while 
feeding, on detestable things. Its grovelling should be 
his, for it was the serpent in himself that was cursed. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



The earth, his external mind and state, was also cursed : 
thorns and thistles of falsity and evil should it thencefor- 
ward bring forth, the consciousness of evil propensities 
making the labour of spiritual cultivation of his soul's 
soil to be painful and terrible, and ever uncertain. 
The soul, ever since, has never outgrown the fatal ten- 
dency to revert to the wilderness condition, the instant 
the labours of cultivation are suspended. Only in the 
sweat of his brow, only by arduous toil and through spiri- 
tual suffering, can he obtain intellectual and spiritual 
bread. The will, the womanly element of his soul, is 
also cursed : only with pain and travail can it now bring 
forth its spiritual sons and daughters ; and whereas once 
the will sprang spontaneously to the love of the eternal 
good, now it needs to cleave to the intellectual part of 
man's constitution for its support and guidance, which 
must rule over it, or it would go still further astray. 
Spontaneous love of the good is lost to man : he needs 
to learn what is true so as to see what is good; 
and he needs to compel his will to desire and deter- 
mine it." 

"The explanation is suggestive, but it requires time 
and thought to understand it, and more still to see that 
it is true," I said. "What is meant by Eden, and by 
the trees in the garden ? " 

"Eden," replied Sophos, "denotes the paradisaical 
state of mankind in the times of pristine innocence. His 
soul was the garden of God, watered by the ever-flowing 
rivers of truth, wisdom and knowledge concerning Divine 
Love and Wisdom, and reason and science concerning 
all natural things. Man was to cultivate this garden, to 
develop its latent possibilities, to improve and beautify 
it. The trees of the garden, of all of which man was 
permitted to eat, represent all the intellectual perceptions 



54 THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



of goodness and truth, which were to serve for his spiri- 
tual food. 'A tree' signifies perception; 'to eat of 
every tree' signifies to know and understand from per- 
ception what is good and true. The men of the Most 
Ancient Church — for Adam and Eve are named, not as 
literal persons, but as representing all the men and 
women of the Most Ancient Church — had the know- 
ledges of a true faith by means of revelations, for they 
conversed with the Lord, also with angels (who were men 
and women who had previously lived and died upon the 
earth, and who had been exalted by the Lord into His 
heavenly Kingdom), and they were also instructed by 
visions and dreams. Men then had from the Lord what 
they no longer enjoy, a continual and immediate percep- 
tion of what is true and good ; when they reflected on 
what was treasured up in their memories, they instantly 
perceived whether it was true and good. Whenever any- 
thing evil or false presented itself, they not only avoided 
and rejected it, but even regarded it with horror. Such 
is now the state of the angels. In the stead of this in- 
stant perception, possessed by the people of the Most 
Ancient Church, the knowledge of what is true and good 
afterwards succeeded. This relatively external know- 
ledge was at first derived from what had been previously 
revealed to their forefathers; but in succeeding ages, 
when the human mind became still more gross and 
darkened by reason of the fallacies of sense, new divine 
revelation was given, so that men might know the truth, 
and be saved." 

" And the two trees, that of life and that of the know- 
ledge of good and evil," I asked, "what do they sig- 
nify?" 

" The tree of lives (the word is in the plural), of which 
men might eat, denotes the perception of love and faith, 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



55 



and the permission to obtain a knowledge of what is good 
and true by means of love and faith. The tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil signifies the perception of 
good, and also of evil, by means of the love of self and 
of the mere appearances of things. To eat of the fruit 
of this tree is to turn from God to self, to be seduced by 
sensual and worldly affections, to seek to judge of Divine 
things by means of the senses alone. This is what man- 
kind began to do. Self-love prompted them to believe 
in nothing that their senses could not perceive, to reject 
the invisible, to deny the unknown. Sensual thought 
and feeling, 'the serpent/ tempted the will, the woman, to 
question the existence of God, to doubt His Providence, 
to challenge His right to rule, to deny that it was man's 
duty to obey. Man strove to dethrone the Deity, to be- 
come a God unto himself. 1 As God in the place of God/ 
man's will desired to become his own law and lawgiver ; 
and deemed that to be perfect which was the sign and 
proof of his imperfection. ' Man/ the rational intelligence 
of the people, consented thereto, and strove to find reasons 
for this folly and sin. Doubt took the place of faith ; 
pride, of humility ; rebellion, of obedience ; the love of 
self usurped the function of the love of the Lord ; and 
reliance on self-derived intelligence drove out perfect 
trust in God. Yet were they not altogether fallen, for 
they could still perceive that they were in evil ; they could 
discern their nakedness and shame; and they could hear 
the voice of the Lord. Natural good still remained to 
them, though celestial and spiritual good had been per- 
verted and destroyed. They were banished from Eden, 
for they had fallen from that high estate. The fall con- 
tinued, however, and their descendants speedily perverted 
and profaned this natural good, and, at length, by a deluge 
of evils and falsities, mankind was swept away, and only 



56 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



Noah and his family were preserved, a remnant and re- 
sidue in the earth." 

" And that was the deluge?" I asked. 

" That flood of evils and falsities was itself the deluge," 
returned Sophos. " Remember this : he who wishes to 
become his own God, to acknowledge no other higher, 
wiser, better than himself; who desires to learn evil in 
order that he may know good ; who worships nothing, or 
acknowledges no supreme worth ; who attempts to grow 
wise from himself, his senses his only counsellors, and 
self-gratification his only object of life, repeats the first 
transgression, and shall suffer the renewal of the first 
curse ! On the contrary, he who seeks to grow wise 
from the Lord, and not from the world, says in his heart, 
that the Lord must be believed, that is, the things which 
the Lord has spoken in His Word, because they are 
truths. According to this principle, he strives to regulate 
all his thoughts. He confirms himself in his belief by 
all rational considerations, by the conclusions of science, 
and by all facts derived from nature and the experience 
of his senses ; but he rejects from his thoughts every idea 
which does not tend to confirm his faith in the Eternal. 
Such a man strives to eat of the tree of lives, and refuses 
to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 
Doubt about the necessity of obeying what we see and 
know to be the highest law : practical doubt, I mean, in 
the existence and authority of God, prompted by sensu- 
ality, and incited by the desire to become one's own deity, 
sovereign, and ruler, was, still is, and ever must be the 
first fatal step in all moral and spiritual decline. The 
allegory of the first Fall is a representative picture of 
every fall — sensuality tempts, the will yields, the intellect 
connives, the sin is completed, and the curse lights on 
the evil-doer as its unfailing, its inevitable consequence." 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



57 



The First Angels. 

" You overpower me with new ideas," I exclaimed. 
" But you said that the men of the Most Ancient Church 
were taught by angels : there were, then, inhabitants of 
this world prior to the Most Ancient Church ?" 

Sophos by a gesture intimated to Dokeos to answer 
this question, and he replied: — "The human race began 
thousands of centuries ago ; at first in low intellectual 
conditions, but in simple states of kindness as to their 
moral affections ; they passed through a gradual process 
of spiritual development, the simple became complex, 
until from merely natural men and women, living like 
undomesticated animals, they became spiritual, and after- 
wards celestial. But inasmuch as moral evil, the perver- 
sion and profanation of known truth and goodness, had 
not been introduced into the world, when men died they 
ascended to heaven and became angels of God. With 
these angels, the men of the Most Ancient, or Celestial, 
Church held open and visible communion. By the means 
of such consociation, the states of men were continually 
advanced, and the joys of the angels also became more 
full 

" Of this spiritual 'genesis ' of man the first and part of 
the second chapters of the Book of Genesis specifically 
treat. The heavens and earth were formed in man ; the 
■ heavens' in his interior nature, 'the earth' in his external 
nature and mind. From being at first * without form and 
void' the earth of man's nature was developed by the 
wonder-working hand of the Creator ; and day's work by 
day's work the Divine operation advanced, still always in 
man. Generation followed generation of continually pro- 
gressive human beings, till man was made celestial in 
affection, perception, and thought; then the Eternal is 



58 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



said to have rested from His labour of developing man- 
kind ; for the inmost and highest planes of human nature 
had then been opened. Man was then said to have been 
placed in Eden, and thenceforward was possible an un- 
ending increase in that highest plane of human conscious- 
ness. Till this time there were no devils, for there was 
no evil ; and all who died became angels." 

" Then, according to this view," I remarked, " death 
came into the world before the fall of man." 

" The death of the body, yes," rejoined Dokeos; "but 
not spiritual death, the extinction in the soul of all spiri- 
tual life, the incoming of evil, and banishment from the 
presence of God. Death has always trodden on the heels 
of life in this world. The earth was never designed to be 
the eternal habitation of man : it is the birthplace of 
human, rational and free beings ; and was fashioned to be 
the seminary of heaven. Man's body did not die in 'the 
day' that he ate of the forbidden fruit. Christ hath not 
redeemed mankind from the death of the body. In the 
earth, space is limited in extent, and matter in quantity; 
therefore the increase of mankind could only have ex- 
tended up to a certain point, when there must have come 
a pause, and that pause would have been death. Death 
is the gate of life : souls are developed in mortal taber- 
nacles in the lower world, but their eternal homes are in 
the spiritual world, where extension is unlimited, and 
where duration, not time, marks its epochs by changes 
of state alone." 

The Lord took not the Nature of Angels. 

"Iam burdened by this incoming of thoughts," I ex- 
claimed. " They are new to me, and if true, how grand 
and enlightening ! Permit me yet another question. 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



59 



Paul said that the Saviour took not upon Himself the 
nature of angels, but was made a little lower than the 
angels, and took upon Himself the seed of Abraham. 
How can I understand this?" 

" The angels are glorified men in spiritual bodies, 
living in the spiritual world," replied Sophos; "our Lord 
took on Himself a material body, and dwelt in the earth. 
He was thus made a little lower than the angels ; for He 
became a Divine Man in the ultimate things of nature 
and the natural world : a Divine Man in Last principles 
as He was eternally a Divine Man in First principles, and 
thus He is ' the First and the Last/ But this statement 
says nothing as to the pre-exist ence or origin of angels." 

The Cherubims. 

"But we read of the cherubims," I urged ; "what are 
they ? Are they not angels ? And the four living crea- 
tures mentioned in the Apocalypse, who 'rest not day 
and night, saying Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, 
which was, and is, and is to come ! ? what are they?" 

" Cherubims are never called angels," replied Dokeos. 
" Those which Ezekiel saw he has most fully described, 
and these had the likeness of a man, but with four faces, 
that of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle ; they had four 
wings, with straight feet like those of a calf; their appear- 
ance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance 
of lamps, that went up and down among the living crea- 
tures; who went and returned as the appearance of a 
flash of lightning. Connected with them were four wheels 
full of eyes round about, in which was the spirit of these 
living creatures ; and when they went, the prophet heard 
the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as 
the voice of the Almighty ; and he knew that they were 



63 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



the cherubims. These are not ' angels/ they are not sent 
as c messengers' from the Almighty : they accompany 
Him, as being His chariot, — as the Psalmist teaches, 
' He rode upon a cherub and did fly/ These, therefore, 
are not angels, and their existence does not prove that 
angels were created prior to man." 

"What then are they?" I demanded, turning to 
Sophos. 

" Representative forms, imaging in the ultimate plane, 
so as to be seen by the prophet, the proceeding spheres of 
the Divine Wisdom," rejoined Sophos. " The four living 
creatures, full of eyes before and behind, mentioned in the 
Apocalypse, in like manner represent the all-seeing provi- 
dence of the Lord. Each particular statement has its spe- 
cific representative value and meaning — the face of the lion 
denotes the ultimate representation of the power and effect 
of Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord ; that of the 
calf represents the appearance in ultimates of Divine 
Good as to defence ; that of the man signifies appear- 
ance in ultimates of the Lord's Divine Providence as to 
Wisdom ; and that of the eagle symbolizes the appearance 
in ultimates of the Divine Providence as to Intelli- 
gence, and circumspection in every direction. Together, 
the four faces image the fulness and perfection of the 
Divine Wisdom in all its aspects. The 'wings folded 
about them' denote how the Divine Providence conceals 
and clothes inmost purposes with external appearances ; 
and seems to be motionless and inactive, while yet it 
operates in all things. Their cry of ' Holy, Holy, Holy' 
affirms the perfect holiness or goodness of the Lord, and 
declares that He alone is the Infinite and Eternal. The 
placing of such a cherub in the garden of Eden, to defend 
the way to the Tree of Lives, signifies the watchful care 
of Divine Providence, lest the wicked should obtain an 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



61 



insight into heavenly truths, which they would profane. 
A similar guardianship is expressed in the Lord's words 
in Isaiah, 6 Go tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but 
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears 
heavy, and shut their eyes' (Isa. vi. 9, 10); or as the 
Lord also said to His disciples, 6 Unto you it is given to 
know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to 
others in parables ; that seeing they might not see, and 
hearing they might not understand' (Luke viii. 10)." 

"By means of such representative forms," added So- 
phos, after a long pause, " were manifested to the opened 
sight of seers and prophets symbols of Divine attributes, 
qualities, and perfections ; not as declaring that such 
representative forms possess an independent and con- 
tinued existence, but as symbolic embodiments before 
the seers of the Divine principles which they represent. 
Every particular detail of such representatives is signi- 
ficant, and their meaning can be interpreted and ex- 
plained by the Science of Correspondences, of which I 
have before spoken." 

Corollary. 

" Remember then," said Dokeos, "that all angels and all 
devils began their existence on an earth, either your earth 
or another ; that they were once men, even as you are ; 
that the material plane is the foundation and beginning- 
place of all existence ; that from the lowest plane of exist- 
ence there is a continual effort upwards, a returning of 
the chain of being toward the Creator ; that this effort 
in the vegetable and animal kingdoms is shown in the 
ascending approximation of all forms to the highest and 
most perfect, the human form ; that thus all lower things 



62 



THE ORIGIN OF ANGELS. 



were prophetic of man, who realized in himself the typal 
predictions and prefigurations of all created things. This 
is man's place in nature, and nature's meaning as it points 
to man. Remember, further, that man is the meeting- 
place of both the natural and the spiritual worlds ; that 
in him God has fashioned a being of a new order, endowed 
with rationality, free determination, and destined to live 
for ever ; that he belongs to the spiritual world even more 
than to the natural, and is continually being claimed by 
it ; that his eternal home will be the spiritual world, but 
to which he could only attain by beginning existence at 
the basis of life, that he might take from the world of 
nature its more subtle and purest substances to form the 
cutaneous covering, the outermost envelope, of the sub- 
stantial body of his spirit, so that his inmost essence might 
have an external boundary or circumscription. Remember, 
likewise, that his life struggle here is between the fallacies 
of sense and eternal truths, the seductions of the flesh and 
the Divine laws, the love of self and of the world, and the 
contrary loves of God and the neighbour. According as he 
acquits himself in the fight will he become, in the next life, 
an angel or an infernal ; and that as an infernal, he will be 
either a devil or a satan, according as evil or falsity have 
predominated in his soul. It was needful that you should 
thus learn what angels are before you could rightly learn 
what angels do." 



CHAPTER III. 



SEERSHIP. 

SOPHOS! O Dokeos!" I exclaimed. "I 
asked for teachers, and am only wishful to be 
taught. When you depart from me I shall 
have opportunities of meditating upon your instructions, 
and of striving to understand them. While you are with 
me continue to teach." 

" Intelligence comes by earnest meditation," said 
Sophos. "We can but communicate ideas; whether 
others will perceive their truth, and make them their own, 
depends partly upon their states as to thought, and partly 
on their states as to affection. The truly wise see; their 
'yea is yea/ their 'nay is nay.' The intelligent reflect 
and reason. They who are only learned absorb the 
knowledges which the wise or the intelligent may com- 
municate. But men must learn before they become 
intelligent, and they must become intelligent before they 
can grow wise. Such is the order of wisdom." 

' I rank among the learners then," I replied. "Teach 
me what was the nature of the power which they pos- 
sessed, to whonl this seeing of angels and spirits was 
possible ?" 




6 4 



SEERSHIP. 



"You ask me," said Sophos, "what is the nature of 
seership ? What saith the Word?" 

Again I heard a chorus of voices, the singers remain- 
ing invisible, and I saw as in letters of burning gold, on 
a pale, blue scroll, these words : — 

Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to 
enquire of god, thus he spake, come, and let us 
go to the Seer; for he that is now called a Pro- 
phet was beforetime called a Seer." 

"A seer/' said Dokeos, "is one 6 whose spiritual sight 
has been opened,' and who thus has been enabled to 
behold the things of the spiritual world." 

"What sight? How opened?" I demanded. 

Spiritual Sight. 

" There are three kinds of sight/' said Sophos. " One 
is the natural sight, with which all men are familiar. 
Yet this natural vision is really the mind's conscious- 
ness of the images reflected upon the retina of the eye. 
It is the spirit which sees by means of the eyes and 
optic nerve, and hears by means of the auditory ap- 
paratus. To say that the eye sees or the ear hears is to 
speak merely according to appearances ; for when the 
soul has departed from the body there is neither sight in 
the eye nor hearing in the ear. So also it is the real man, 
the spiritual being, who acts by means of his hands, 
speaks by means of his vocal apparatus, and thinks in 
the body by means of the brain. It must never be over- 
looked that man is a spirit and has a body; and that the 
body is not the man, but is adjoined to the man as a 
* i Sam. ix. 9. 



SEERSHIP. 



material instrument, so that by its means he may live in 
the natural world, and take part in its concerns. 

" There is, secondly, intellectual sight, or mental per- 
ception, the faculty of seeing whether certain things 
are true or false. A thousand matters, altogether invis- 
ible to physical sight, can yet be discerned by the 
sight of the mind. To the former, the surface, struc- 
ture, form, and colour of things are alone visible; while 
to mental sight, beauty, harmony, arrangement, causes, 
and purposes are visible. Whatsoever is remembered, 
describable, or conceivable, serve as objects of mental 
sight. 

" There is, thirdly, spiritual sight, distinctively so 
called ; the sight proper to man's spirit, and which his 
spirit will possess after the man has passed, by death, 
out of the natural into the spiritual world. It must be 
evident that the spiritual bodies of men, in the other 
world, possess all the senses which their natural bodies 
possessed in the natural world ; and that their powers of 
sensation are far more acute than those which they pos- 
sessed in their physical bodies. Spiritual bodies see, hear, 
smell, taste, and touch ; it would be a mockery of all the 
experience of their earth-life, and by no means an exalta- 
tion in state, were it otherwise. But sensations of neces- 
sity imply the existence and activity of organs of sensation ; 
and we cannot conceive of any other organ of sight than 
the eye, or of hearing than the ear, and so of all the others. 
Hence we must conclude that such organs of sensation 
are possessed by the spiritual bodies of men in the spiri- 
tual world. Both in the spiritual and the natural world 
men possess the power of intellectual sight, or mental 
perception ; but this is no more than a consciousness of 
a process of thought taking place within the mind. In 
addition to this, men possess the power of seeing objects 



66 



SEERSHIP. 



which are external to themselves, and such objects exist 
by myriads in both worlds. 

" All kinds of sight, of necessity, imply three things,- — 
an organ of sight, objects of sight, and light by means 
of which those objects are illuminated and made 
visible. Light emitted by the natural sun, shining upon 
objects- in the natural plane, renders visible to natural 
eyes the things which they see. The intellectual light of 
truth, shed forth by the 4 Sun of Righteousness/ shining 
on objects of thought, enables the 'mind's eye' to see the 
matters which it discerns. Spiritual light in the spiritual 
world, shining on the objects which there exist, reveals 
to the eyes of the spirit those objects which they there 
behold. 

" Although the real man or spirit, so long as he dwells 
in the world, is covered with a physical body, the spirit 
exists within the body in a perfect human form. The 
spirit possesses those organs of sensation which are proper 
to itself, though they are temporarily closed ; so that men, 
generally, do not become aware of the presence of the 
spiritual beings who are about them. Yet there is ever 
a possibility of these organs of sense proper to the spirit 
being ' opened,' as we term it, so that man might see, 
hear, and converse with spirits and angels. The organs 
of sensation exist, the spiritual persons or objects exist, 
the light by which they are revealed to each other ever 
shines ; and the true reason why man so rarely perceives 
those objects is because during his earth-life his spiritual 
organs of sensation are almost uniformly closed. 

" It was not always thus. It has not been thus in the 
case of every man in any age of the world. In the most 
ancient times these spiritual organs of sensation were all 
open, so that the human race had conscious intercourse 
with spirits and angels, in addition to intellectual sight, 



SEERSH1P. 



67 



and the sight proper to the body. The communion of 
the church on the earth and in the heavens was then open, 
untrammelled and visible. One generation of men could 
behold the spiritual bodies of those who had been their 
earthly ancestors, and could gain knowledge from their 
instructions. In the course of ages, in proportion as man- 
kind grew worse and worse in state, sunk themselves 
more and more deeply in worldly and corporeal affec- 
tions, became more and more exclusively of the earth 
earthy, this visible communion ceased. That which had 
been the heritage of all became the inheritance of only a 
few ; and gradually this few decreased in number, and 
their gift became less normal and less certain. Then, 
only at long intervals and on rare occasions, there arose 
a man who possessed and could exercise this once uni- 
versal power. Among such, every variety in degree and 
in continuance of the gift is discernible ; and the value of 
their disclosures as to what they see and hear is determin- 
able according to the degree in which they possessed the 
faculty of spiritual sight or hearing, the class of spirits 
with whom they were associated, and the period during 
which their gift continued. 

" The possibility, however, of thus seeing and con- 
versing with spirits has never ceased with any man. All 
men are potentially seers. Whenever it pleases the Lord 
the eyes and ears of any man's spirit can be opened, so that 
he may see the things of the spiritual world as well as 
spirits and angels, and even devils, and may also con- 
verse with them and hear them speak. Those to whom 
this faculty has been specially given, and who have thus 
been permitted to see and converse with spirits and 
angels, for the purpose that they might instruct others in 
the truths of the Word, are called Seers." 

" Your communication is most interesting and sugges- 



68 SEERSHIP. 

tive," I said. " Permit, however, one question : Will 
such open intercourse ever again become common?" 

" Few, at this day, are able to converse with spirits 
and angels, because so few are conjoined to the Lord by 
faith and love, and, without such conjunction, the open- 
ing of the spiritual organs of sensation is most dangerous," 
replied Sophos. " Manifestly, then, when such a con- 
junction with the Lord is re-established, as in future ages 
it will be, when no man shall need to say to his fellows 
- Know the Lord ! for all shall know Him from the least 
even to the greatest/ then such intercourse will be re- 
sumed; but to speak with spirits is hurtful, unless the 
man be in genuine faith and charity, and be led thereto 
of the Lord." 



Prophets and Seers. 

" Were all the prophets seers ?" I asked. 
Sophos gestured to Dokeos to reply to me, and he 
said, — 

" Not all; nor were all seers prophets. There is no proof 
that Hosea, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, or Malachi 
were seers. Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, 
and Zechariah, among the prophets who wrote, were 
markedly seers. Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and various 
others among the prophets who did not write, were 
unmistakeably seers, and many are even described as 
'seers.' Hence we must make a distinction between 
seership and the prophetic office ; and also between 
prophets whose prophetic mission was special and local 
merely, and those who were employed by the Infinite 
Wisdom as instruments for writing His Word, ' which 
abideth for ever.' The faculty of seeing does not depend 
on the moral goodness of him who may possess it. Thus 



SEERSHIP. 



69 



Balaam was a seer, though there is no evidence that he 
was a good man, all the proof indeed being rather to 
the contrary. Yet he describes himself as 'the man 
whose eyes are open' (Numb, xxxiv. 3). We also read 
of Zadok the priest who was likewise a seer (2 Sam. xv. 
17); of Gad the seer (2 Sam. xxiv. 11); of Heman the 
seer (1 Chron. xxv. 5); of Iddo the seer; of Hanani the 
seer ; of Asaph the psalmist and seer ; of Jeduthun the 
king's seer ; of the seers that spake to Manasseh ; and, 
further, of the 'sayings of the seers.'" 

" Is there any proof in the Word," I asked, " that the 
seeing of angels was effected by the opening of the spir- 
itual eyes of the person who beheld them ?" 

" Your reverence for the Word, and your anxiety to 
test every statement by its Divine declarations," inter- 
rupted Sophos, " is most wise. He who cleaveth to the 
Word shall never go astray." 

" The only case," resumed Dokeos, " recorded in the 
Word in which any explanation is given of the means 
by which the seers saw, explicitly declares that this was 
the method. Elisha, the prophet and seer, had been pur- 
sued by the Assyrian soldiers ; during the night they sur- 
rounded the city where he was, and when his servant arose 
early in the morning, he beheld the host, and said to his 
master, 'Alas, my master ! how shall we do?' Elisha com- 
forted him. ' Fear not,' he said, ' for they that be with us 
are more than they that be with them.' Then it is re- 
corded that Elisha prayed and said, ' Lord, I pray Thee, 
open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the 
eyes of the young man; and he saw, and behold the mountain 
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha' 
(2 Kings vi. 15-17). Elisha had seen; for was he not 
a Seer ? The young man's eyes were opened, and then he 
toobecame temporarily possessed of thispower of seership." 



70 



SEERSHIP. 



" The passage is striking," I observed, " and seems final. 
I had been taught to think, however, that angels rendered 
themselves visible by temporarily assuming to themselves 
some kind of material substance, with which they clothed 
their invisible forms, so as to reflect light, and thus they 
were made objects of natural sight." 

" There is no justification in the Word of such an 
hypothesis," rejoined Dokeos. "On the contrary, in 
describing the apostasy of Israel and its consequences, it 
is said, 6 The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit 
of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes ; the prophets and 
your rulers, the seers, hath He covered' (Isa, xxix. 10). 
On the grounds of probability, which is the more reason- 
able, — that this power of incorporating to themselves 
material elements should be possessed by the angels, or 
that the eyes of the seer's spirit should be opened ?" 

" The latter, surely," I replied. 

" There may and must be, as Sophos has said, grada- 
tions of seership," added Dokeos. " Some in whom the 
faculty is only partially opened; some in whom it is 
opened only occasionally, and then wifch more or less 
completeness ; some in whom it is a general condition ; 
some most highly favoured ones in whom the spiritual 
organs of sensation are as fully and as constantly opened 
as are the similar organs of their bodies, and who are thus 
fitted to be links of connection between the natural and 
spiritual world, open-eyed witnesses to the reality of a 
life after death, and teachers of men on many subjects 
connected with the spiritual world." 

I sighed as the half-formed thought flashed across my 
mind, " Would that I too could be such a seer !" 



SEERSHIP. 



7i 



Heavenly Spiritualism. 

Sophos gazed upon me earnestly and discerned my 
thought. " The gift is not one which should be desired ; 
and certainly it should not be sought," he said. "Its 
exercise is surrounded with many spiritual and moral 
dangers. The Jews were forbidden to suffer a necroman- 
cer—one who communes with the dead — to live, to show 
the danger of spiritual death incurred by those who pos- 
sessed the power in the low spiritual state, as to faith and 
love, which then, and which indeed still prevails. You 
have the Divine Word ; seek unto that ! You have the con- 
sociation and guardianship of angels ; rest in that ! You 
can have conjunction with the Lord ; rely on that ! You 
can have subjective communication with the spiritual 
world by way of suggested thoughts, reawakened trains of 
reflection, the recalling to your remembrance of the words 
of Divine Truth, the stirring up and drawing out of what- 
ever remains in your soul of early states of innocence, 
charity, tenderness, faithfulness, desires of usefulness and 
of love, through which you have passed, and which are 
never wholly lost : strive to realize all this ! To seek after 
objective communication with the spiritual world, to 
labour to cultivate or develop in yourself any faculty of 
seership you may possess, breeds — have I not observed 
it a hundred times ! — spiritual pride, haughtiness, and 
the desire to exercise spiritual dominion. Men are in 
closest consociation with those spirits, good or evil, which 
are in fullest harmony with their own states : to openly 
commune with such only tends to confirm and establish 
such states; and thus it tends to retard spiritual progress 
in the attainment of heavenly graces, which are virtues in 
angels only because they are Divine attributes and ex- 
cellences in the Lord." 



72 SEERSHIP. 

"There is, therefore, mercy shown by the Lord in 
closing up the faculty, so long as the spiritual states of 
men are so predominately evil, as that its exercise would 
increase their jeopardy, without at all promoting their 
regeneration in the love and practice of goodness,'' added 
Dokeos. 

" But," I urged, " would not conviction be wrought in 
many minds as to the future life, were the faculty more 
fully possessed, and its observations were more copiously 
recorded ?" 

" What saith the Word ? " demanded Sophos. 

I heard again the heavenly chorus, and in refulgent 
characters, standing out as though written on the very 
atmosphere in lines of blazing whiteness, I seemed to see 
the words : — 

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
neither will they be persuaded though one rose 
from the dead !* 

" Conviction as to the reality of a future life might 
certainly be produced in men by such means,'' said 
Sophos most gravely ; " but to be convinced of the certainty 
of a life after death, and to be persuaded to turn from 
tJieir evils that they may inherit eternal life, are not the 
same things. Far otherwise. How many believe, and 
yet love iniquity ! Let the lives of the thousands of pro- 
faners of the truth declare it ! Knowledge of the truth is 
precious : let none underrate its value ! Yet far more 
precious and valuable is a life in accordance with the 
truths that each man knows." 

There rushed across my consciousness the remem- 
brance of my own many omissions, negligences, and 

* Luke xvi. 31. 



SEERSHIP. 



73 



transgressions, and that, too, despite my knowledge and 
convictions, and I was silenced and melted. "Thank 
God," I murmured, " there is mercy for the penitent 1" 

" Miracles," added Sophos, " are not now wrought be- 
cause they compel belief ; but the internal man cannot be 
affected by compulsion, seeing that nothing enters into 
its state save by intellectual ideas. If ideas were derived 
from miracles and they were afterwards dissipated, there 
would then take place in the soul a conjunction of the 
false and the true, which is most grievous profanation. 
The economy of Divine Providence is right ; for He seeks 
to lead men in intellectual and spiritual freedom to the 
knowledge, love, and practice of the truth. Human pro- 
gress is thereby rendered slow ; but the progress is real. 
The after-life will reveal that the Lord's ways were best." 

Subjective and Objective Seership. 

" There is one question I should like to ask," I ob- 
served, breaking a long silence ; " it is as to the illustrations 
of seership recorded in the Word : — Were these visions all 
objective, i.e. the actual seeing of real objects existing in 
the spiritual world ? or, were not many of them subjective 
merely, i.e. the passing before the mind of the seer such 
a train of thoughts, so vividly perceived, in an intellectual 
way, as to seem to him as though they were objective, 
while they were really subjective only? or, were the visions 
partly objective and partly subjective?" 

"The spiritual visions of the prophets," replied Sophos, 
"were objective, that is, things seen, not by the mental 
sight, which is what you term subjective seeing, but by 
the opened eyes of the spirit. The things they saw were 
representatives of heavenly things, actually produced in 
the spiritual world into which the seers were for the time 



74 



SEERSHIP. 



intromitted. It is, however, necessary to observe that 
one great law rules all such visions : — men see the objects 
of the spiritual world only according to their own state ; 
thus when the Lord appeared to the whole congregation 
on Mount Sinai, that appearance was a vision seen in one 
form by Moses, in another form by Aaron, and in yet 
another by the people. Spiritual sight thus, in some 
degree, partakes of the nature of intellectual sight, while 
it also resembles bodily vision. It resembles the latter 
in so far as the common, ordinary objects of the spiritual 
world would be visible to all spirits and seers : it also 
resembles intellectual perception, because a thousand 
objects which w T ould be actually invisible to a less in- 
structed or less perceptive mind would be openly visible 
to the wiser and more perceptive. In that world, there- 
fore, the truth, which in the natural world is subj ective 
chiefly, — that 'man sees only what he brings eyes to 
see/ is, in the spiritual world, wrought out into objective- 
ness j or, in other words, each there sees only accordirg 
to his state. This differ ence exists between natural and 
spiritual objects of sight, that whereas the fixity of 
matter gives stability to all the objects of natural sight, so 
that all who see at all see the same general outline, form, 
and colour of things, the differences being as to distance, 
intensity, comprehensiveness, and intelligence of vision; in 
the spiritual world things take objective form and colour, 
qualities and appearances, according to the subjective 
mental state of the beholder. The field of view, and the 
things within that field of view, to two spirits, though 
standing and conversing together, might be as to all kinds 
of particulars quite different, though, so long as they re- 
mained together, the general features of the field of view 
might appear the same to one as to another. Do I make 
my meaning clear to you ?" 



SEERSHIP. 



" I think I see your idea," I replied. 

"Your reply illustrates my meaning," rejoined Sophos. 
" In your natural state, in the natural world, you can only 
intellectually see, or understand the thought I have been 
trying to express. Were you in the spiritual world, ob- 
jective forms could be made to appear before your spirit's 
sight to illustrate and embody the truths of which I have 
spoken. In that world you could both subjectively per- 
ceive and objectively see the things which I see, or as 
you rightly term it 'my idea.' Apply, now, this law, 
which I repeat is universal, to the subject of which we 
were speaking : — according as the perception of the seer 
was more interior, and his state more elevated, the visions 
he could behold were both more comprehensive and 
more perfect. His subjective state would determine, to 
some extent, his objective perceptions. He who was in 
the highest subjective condition would, consequently, see 
more full, more diversified, and more interior things." 

" But were we to apply such a test to the prophets of 
the Word?" I asked:— 

" We should have gained an explanation of the problem, 
why God should have chosen different men, of diverse 
character, at separate times, and writing in various exter- 
nal styles, to be His several mouthpieces to mankind ; 
why in the letter the Divine Word differs, in the several 
books, in style and manner ; why some of the prophets 
were the vehicles through whom the Lord communicated 
much, while through others He communicated but little of 
His Divine Wisdom ; why, for example, the Lord should 
have selected John to be the seer of the Apocalypse in 
preference to Peter, or any other of the apostles. He 
ever selected the most fitting instrument ; and the ques- 
tion of fitness was determined, as alone it was determin- 
able, by the interior state of the instrument who was 



76 



SEERSHIP. 



chosen. In each case the instrument chosen was the 
fittest, and the Word spoken to him, or rather through 
him, and by him written down, was Divine in its origin ; 
and also in its interior significations ; and likewise in the 
letter. While this is true, we must perceive differences in 
the form and style of the letter of the Word, which, with- 
out the basis of such an explanation, it would be impos- 
sible to understand." 

" As to this external mode and form, then," I inquired, 
" there were differences in the visions and revelations re- 
corded in the Word ? * 

"Beyond all question, yes !" replied Sophos emphati- 
cally. " The dreams mentioned in the Word well illustrate 
the point. Some of them were what you term subjective, 
— vivid presentations before the mind of the dreamer of 
thoughts which, when intellectually seen by him, seemed 
to be objective realities, as though actually before his 
eyes. Some of the ' visions of the night,' during sleep, 
were in part subjective, and in part objective, — things 
thought of and also things actually seen mingling accor- 
dantly together. The ' visions of the day/ permitted in 
a state of wakefulness as to the bodily organs, were of 
objective things rendered visible to the spiritual sight, or 
the sight of the spirit. So also of hearing : some things 
were heard internally, or within the man, as when it was 
written, ' The Lord said,' or ' Thus saith the Lord 9 ; 
some were heard outwardly, as proceeding from a spirit 
or an angel actually speaking ; in some cases, the angel or 
spirit who spoke was visible, so that both the sense of 
sight and hearing were then opened ; and in other instances 
the speaker remained invisible, only the sense of hearing 
being in such cases opened." 

" And this variety was determined by what?" I asked. 

" Difference in the state of the seer," responded Sophos ; 



SEERSHIP. 



77 



" and also variety of purpose in the vision that was seen, 
or the speech that was heard. Most of the visions de- 
scribed in the Word, however, are manifestly objective — 
visions of things actually made visible to the opened spiri- 
tual sight of the prophet, who, in that case, was also a 
seer. Such things as the seer then beheld were likewise 
seen by the angels or spirits with whom he was convers- 
ing. This last-named fact, perhaps, may best illustrate 
the difference between perceptions which are subjective 
to the person who perceives them, and visions that are of 
objective things : because objective, they could be seen 
by those spiritual beings who were in company with the 
prophet and seer, and also by the prophet and seer 
himself." 

When Sophos had concluded, Dokeos broke the 
silence that ensued. " Were not the fact as Sophos has 
just now stated it," he said, " men on earth could know 
nothing concerning the things of the spiritual world which 
are visible to those who dwell there. Were all prophetic 
visions no more than descriptions of a course and current 
of, what you term, subjective impressions, one purpose of 
the Divine Word would be defeated, which was to acquaint 
mankind with the realities that await them in the life after 
death. Whatsoever, therefore, is said in the Word on 
such subjects is to be regarded as truly descriptive of the 
actual, the objective, truth as to the things which appear 
in the spiritual world to those who inhabit that world. ; ' 

"True," said Sophos; "and even where the impression 
was received inwardly, and not outwardly, the things im- 
pressed on the mind of their percipient were in perfect 
agreement with the things which outwardly appear in the 
spiritual world ; for the laws of mind and the laws of the 
spiritual world are one in kind, however they may vary 
in form and mode." 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

MUSED for a little while on what I had heard, 
striving rather to recall the conclusions which 
had been stated, and to fix them in my 
memory, than to examine whether they were true. 

" The spiritual world, then, according to these teachers, 
is a real substantial world, or plane of existence ; it is 
inhabited by real men who possess bodies composed of 
spiritual substance, having all the organs of sense which 
are possessed by the natural body ; all these spiritual men 
were onee human beings who had previously lived on 
an earth, on our earth or another; some of these are 
devils and some angels ; neither angels nor devils were 
created such, but each has determined his own destiny 
by the character of his life in the world ; there is no 
personal devil, no fallen archangel, no Anti-God, scarcely 
inferior to God though utterly antagonistic to Him in 
purpose; seership was once a universal privilege or 
faculty ; it has been closed by reason of sin, and may 
again be universally opened by reason of righteousness ; 
at present the faculty is still possessed by a few men in 
almost every generation, though, in such cases, it does 




THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 79 



not depend on moral goodness ; there is an orderly and 
heavenly spiritualism, which all men should seek to 
cultivate ; sight in the spiritual world depends, to some 
extent, on the subjective states of those who see, al- 
though there are objects in that world which all discern ; 
the visions recorded in the Divine Word were made 
visible by the opening of the spirit-sight of those who 
beheld them, and thus were providentially designed to 
acquaint us with the character of the spiritual world, to 
illustrate its laws, and thus to intellectually prepare us 
for partaking in its concerns. These are stupendous and 
amazing ideas : if true, how important ! if false, how 
seductive ! At present it is for me to learn, not to 
discuss; the opportunity for investigation will come 
afterwards. But both Sophos and Dokeos have used a 
third word, ' spirits/ — angels, devils, 6 and spirits ' : who 
and what are these 6 spirits' ?" 

I raised my head, and observed that while I had been 
thus musing both Sophos and Dokeos had withdrawn 
themselves to a considerable distance from me, and that 
I saw them far less distinctly than before. As I looked 
toward them, however, they immediately approached 
me. 

"Sophos," I said; "you have spoken of ' spirits' 
as distinguished in some way from both angels and 
devils. You have also spoken of such 'spirits' as being 
'good and evil/ Tell me, then, what are the differences 
you express in these distinctions ?" 

" Most willingly," responded Sophos. " The Spiritual 
World is separated into three great divisions. One of 
these is heaven, or rather heavens, for there are three 
heavens, each of which is divided into two great king- 
doms, and innumerable societies. Another of these 
divisions is hell, or rather the hells, for there are more 



80 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

than one. The third of these divisions is the World of 
Spirits, or the Intermediate State, into which all who die 
in the natural world first enter, and where they remain 
for longer or shorter periods, till they are judged, when 
whatever is of good is separated from whatsoever is of 
evil in the state of each individual spirit, and the good 
are finally separated from the wicked. The good, those 
who have lived in accordance with the light of truth 
which they possessed in the world, ascend from this In- 
termediate State into the heavenly society with which 
they were previously conjoined, and find their eternal 
home in the heaven for which their spiritual state of love, 
or wisdom, or obedience has fitted them ; and thence- 
forward they are numbered among the angels of God. 
While they were in the World of Spirits, these were 'good 
spirits/ but who had not yet attained their final abode in 
the heavens. The wicked, those who, in the natural 
world, have loved iniquity and have continually sinned 
against the light of truth which they possessed, are in the 
World of Spirits deprived of the knowledges of truth 
which they had perverted; they fly from the light of 
heaven, and precipitate themselves into the hell for which 
their lives had fitted them, and dwell in the infernal 
society with which they, by their life of evil in the natural 
world, had previously connected themselves. They had 
been wicked or 'evil spirits' during their temporary 
sojourn in the Intermediate State; when they enter hell 
they become infernal spirits, or devils. This, then, is 
the distinction I expressed." 

" But is there such an Intermediate State ?" I asked. 

" Its existence is grounded in the very nature of spiri- 
tual things," rejoined Sophos. "In the spiritual world 
men are arranged and distributed according to their 
States. Heaven is the state of love and wisdom, into 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 81 



which there can enter nothing which defileth; similarly, 
those who enter into heaven are in corresponding states 
of wisdom and love. Hell is the state of evil and falsity, 
into which there can enter nothing that is good or true ; 
similarly, those who go to hell are in accordant states of 
falsity and evil. The condition both of angels and of 
devils is homogeneous. The angels are as wise as they 
are loving, and as loving as they are wise; in them, 
goodness finds its conjugal partner truth, and the mar- 
riage union of goodness and truth is eternally consum- 
mated in the soul of each. So likewise the infernals are 
as deeply immersed in darkness as they are sunk in evil; 
evil in them seeks its congenial associate falsity, and the 
monstrous union of evil and falsity is consummated in 
the soul of each. When man enters the spiritual world, 
his internal or spiritual state is intermediate; and, con- 
sequently, the region into which he enters is the ' Inter- 
mediate State.' No soul is so pure that it has no infir- 
mities; no soul is so corrupt as to have closed itself 
against all knowledge. Few indeed are prepared to 
ascend immediately into the society of angels ; and but 
few are ready to rush headlong into the hells. The state 
of these new comers being thus mixed, where can they 
dwell save in an 6 Intermediate State'? Here they must 
remain until the spiritual condition of each becomes 
homogeneous; in the case of the good, truth being- 
gained, infirmities not in harmony with their ruling affec- 
tion being vastated or removed, and thus they are fitted 
for heaven : in the case of the wicked, truth being lost, 
impulses not in harmony with their ruling love being 
quenched, and thus they fit themselves for hell. The 
Intermediate State in the spiritual world therefore grows 
out of the very condition of those who enter into that 
world; for, because their state is one of mingled good 



82 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, 



and evil, wisdom and error, they must needs enter into a 
condition in harmony with their state." 

"This appears reasonable," I remarked, when Sophos 
paused. 

Dokeos took up the word. " It is reasonable, and it 
is true," he said. 

" I had thought, however, that the doctrine of the In- 
termediate State was exploded by Protestantism, revolting 
against the sordid uses to which the older doctrine of 
'Purgatory' had been put by wily and wicked priests," 
I replied. 

"What have we to do with 1 Protestantism ' or 'Pur- 
gatory'? We are here seekers after the truth of things, 
heedless of the points of contact or of divergence be- 
tween what we learn and teach, and the opinions of 
others," said Dokeos, with a sweet smile. "Yet, to 
give you proof of the truth, explore your own memory, 
and endeavour to see the evidence there is that the 
older church, despite its perversion to purposes of priest- 
craft of the truth concerning the middle state, has been 
wiser than Protestantism in regard to this subject." 

A flood of remembrances gained from former reading 
came upon me, and I said, — 

"The early Christian writers undoubtedly believed in a 
middle state. Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, Chry- 
sostom, Augustine, Eusebius, Cyril, and others of the 
Fathers, most indisputably held the doctrine as true. The 
so-called Apostles' Creed declares of the Saviour that 
' He descended into hades,' the place of the departed, 
which is neither heaven nor hell. Of course the Greeks p 
believed in such a middle state, for they described it by ; > 
the word 'hades? which was neither the Elysian Fields 
nor Tartarus. In adopting this word hades, the idea 
it expresses has been adopted into the New Testament, v 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 83 



And now I think, even those who believe that the judg- 
ment will take place on the earth must admit a middle 
state which is neither heaven nor hell, wherein the spirits 
of all may dwell pending their coming to judgment." 

" Still further explore your memory, and produce what 
you find there," said Dokeos. 

"I have read that the word Skeol is used in the 
Hebrew Old Testament sixty-five times. We sometimes 
translate it grave, and sometimes hell ; but Josephus 
informs us, in his discourse to the Greeks, that it means 
' the place wherein the souls of both the righteous and 
the unrighteous are detained.' I remember also to have 
read that personal pronouns are never applied to Skeol, 
as ' my, thy, his, or our, your or their/ grave; but that 
whenever such an idea is expressed as to need these 
pronouns, the proper Hebrew word for grave, keber, is 
employed, and not Sheol; thus showing that Skeol really 
signifies not 'the grave,' but 'the place of departed 
spirits/ and which is neither heaven nor hell. So Jacob 
said, 'I will go unto Skeol mourning' (Gen. xxxvii. 35); 
meaning that he would go, not to the grave, but to the 
place of the departed. So the Psalmist says, 4 God will 
redeem my soul from the power of Skeol' (Psa. xlix. 15); 
meaning, not the grave, for the soul goes not thereinto, 
but the place of the departed, into which enter the spirits 
of all flesh. Yes/' I continued, with some little mental 
excitement, " I remember a still more striking instance. 
David says of the Lord, ' Thou wilt not leave My soul in 
Skeol, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see 
corruption' (Psa. xvi. 10); and in the Apostle's quotation 
of the passage, on the Day of Pentecost, it is written, 
'Thou wilt not leave My Soul in hades' (Acts ii. 31); 
thus showing that Skeol and hades were in the estimation 
of Peter equivalent terms ; and that what the Hebrew 



84 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



means by the one tenn the Greek expresses by the other. 
Both words, consequently, must express the place of the 
departed, or what you style the ' Intermediate State/ 
the state into which all first enter immediately after 
death, and which, although in the spiritual world, is 
neither heaven nor hell." 

"You reason wisely," said Sophos. "Proceed." 

" I remember also that hades in the New Testament is 
certainly not expressive of the final abode of the wicked. 
Gehenna expresses that idea, a figurative word derived 
from the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, into which 
offal and refuse were cast, and where vast fires were kept 
continually burning. Tartardsas is used in the question- 
able passage in Peter's Epistle about the angels who 
sinned, which we previously considered. So also we read 
of 6 death and hades' delivering up their dead, and of 
both death and hades being cast into the lake of fire 
(Rev. xx. 13, 14); a clear proof that hades cannot mean 
what is expressed by hell." 

" You have not thought of a still stronger proof," said 
Dokeos. " Peter says, 6 For Christ also hath once suf- 
fered, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to 
God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto 
the spirits in prison ; which sometime were disobedient, 
when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days 
of Noah, while the ark was preparing' (1 Pet. hi. 18-20). 
These spirits in prison were not in hell." 

" Oh," I exclaimed, " interpret that to me most mys- 
terious statement! Who were these spirits? Where 
were their prisons? When did the Saviour preach to 
them ? For what purpose ? Some say that this preach- 
ing was done through the instrumentality of Noah, who 
was ' a preacher of righteousness.' " 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 85 



" That phrase is taken from the apocryphal Book of 
Enoch, of which we have before spoken," replied 
Dokeos. "But the spirits are described as being in 
prison at the time when they were ' preached unto.' 
Hence, the preaching could not have been that of Noah, 
for when he preached to them they were men and 
women in the flesh, and not in prison. It is further 
evident that the Saviour must have preached, or the 
connection of the passage is broken. Their prisons 
must have been in hades, not in hell ; the intermediate, 
and not the final, state of those spoken of. The preach- 
ing took place subsequently to the Saviour's crucifixion, 
when He had descended into hades. These spirits in- 
cluded all ancient unbelievers since the days of Noah, 
who had not yet gone to their final abode, and of whom 
those of the days of Noah are specifically mentioned. 
The object and purpose of this preaching may be learned 
from another statement of Peter : ' For this cause was 
the Gospel [of glad tidings in Jesus Christ our Lord] 
preached also to them that are dead, that they might be 
judged according to men in the flesh, but live according 
to God in the Spirit' (1 Pet. iv. 6); that is, that there 
might be an equality of light in order that there might 
be an equality of judgment. Who can doubt that the 
message of the Saviour was a message of mercy to these 
imprisoned spirits ?" 

" I cannot doubt that," I answered. 

" These spirits were not in heaven ; they were not in 
hell ; they were in the spiritual world : therefore they 
must have been in the intermediate state, which we call 
the world of spirits; and, consequently, there must be 
such an intermediate state." 

"It seems beyond refutation, Dokeos," I replied. 
" But what of those spirits in prison ? " 



86 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



"Bear with me yet a moment," returned Dokeos. 
" Speaking of David, Peter declared that 'he had not 
yet ascended into the heavens ' (Acts ii. 34). Where was 
he then ? Not in hell ; not in heaven ; yet in the spiri- 
tual world : hence there must be an intermediate state, 
which is neither heaven nor hell." 

" True," I rejoined; "and now I think of it, 'the 
spirits under the altar/ mentioned by the seer of the 
Apocalypse, who had been slain for the Word of God, 
who cried, ' How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou 
not avenge our blood?' who were commanded to 'rest 
yet for a little season/ and to whom white robes were 
given, could not have been in heaven, and they certainly 
were not in hell ; and, therefore, there must be an inter- 
mediate state in which they dwelt." 

The Scene of the Apocalypse. 

"The whole of the Apocalypse," added Dokeos, 
" proves the existence of such an intermediate state. The 
scene of the Revelation, in which good and bad spirits 
mingled, in which angels and devils acted out their 
parts, could neither have been heaven nor hell. In one 
chapter John records that he was invited to see 1 the 
Bride, the Lamb's wife ; ' he ascended a great and high 
mountain : he saw 6 ascending from God out of heaven 
that holy city, New Jerusalem.' The Apostle was there- 
fore not in heaven, out of which he saw the symbolic 
city descend. Heaven was above ; hell was beneath : 
consequently, he was on the ' earth ? of the spiritual 
world — the intermediate state. The term ' up/ which is 
usually applied to heaven, is in no strict sense true in the 
natural world, every point of which momentarily changes 
its direction ; the term is true in the spiritual world, as 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 87 



also the term c down,' as applied to the location of hell. 
The terms express facts as to that world ; and because of 
the harmony existing between the things of intellectual 
thought and the things of the spiritual world, the terms 
are felt to be apposite, and it is said 6 up ' to heaven, and 
'down' to hell. John was between heaven and hell, or 
in the Intermediate State. The seven-sealed book was 
seen there. The woman clothed with the sun, standing 
on the moon, and crowned with twelve stars, was beheld 
there. The struggle between the dragon and Michael 
was there ; the vials of wrath and judgment were poured 
out there ; the witnesses lying in the midst of ' spiritual 
Sodom and Egypt, where also the Lord was crucified' 
(Rev. xi. 8), were there; the fall of Babylon and the 
lamentations over it were there. The scene of judgment, 
the separation of the corn from the chaff, the wheat from 
the tares, the wise from the foolish virgins, the man that 
had not on the wedding-garment from those who were 
thus arrayed, the unprofitable servant from those who had 
increased their talents, and the sheep from the goats, 
was to be in that intermediate state, the World of 
Spirits. Into that world the representative city, New 
Jerusalem, was to descend, and thence should its holy 
influences flow down into the hearts and minds of the 
members of the Christian Church on the natural earth. 
There should be seen the River of Life and the Tree of 
Life, whose fruit should be for food and its leaves for 
medicine; there the Lamb should be the temple, and 
the gracious invitation should there be heard, to re-echo 
thence upon the earth, 6 The Spirit and the Bride say, 
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let 
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely.' In rejecting the truth that 
there is a middle state, your Protestantism has thrown 



.88 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



away one of the many keys supplied by the Lord for un- 
locking the secrets of His Word." 

" I begin indeed to believe it," I exclaimed. 

The Spirits in Prison. 

" Now of the spirits in prison," said Dokeos. "Speak- 
ing of the apostasy of the Israelites, Isaiah thus declares: 
' It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall 
punish the hosts of the high ones on high, and the kings 
of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be 
gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, 
and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days 
shall they be visited' (Isa. xxiv. 21, 22). All things in 
the spiritual world are only the outcoming representative 
appearances of inward spiritual states. Such therefore 
are prisons, bonds and darkness. Spiritual imprison- 
ment is there external, because it was first internal. The 
external appearances in the most minute particulars cor- 
respond to the internal states of those whom they sur- 
round. Spiritual imprisonment, therefore, is the binding 
of all the faculties of the mind ; it inwardly consists in 
the deprivation of all the spiritual powers with which 
men are by birth invested, such as the power of looking 
upwards towards God and heaven, and of desiring to do 
so ; the power of thus receiving Divine life of interior 
love and wisdom ; the power of thus attaining conjunc- 
tion with the Lord through the free and voluntary ad- 
mission of His love, wisdom, and operation. The real 
danger of false opinions, conclusions, and superstitions is 
that they imprison and enslave the soul that cherishes 
them. Their slave is their captive, and may easily be- 
come their victim. Who knows not of the fetters of 
doubt which palsy and paralyze the strength ? Mental 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, 89 



indecision is, indeed, spiritual bondage. The deliverance 
from the power of superstition is in very fact an eman- 
cipation of the soul from a spiritual dungeon, where 
phantasy acted as a gaoler, and companions in the mental 
and moral darkness were fellow captives, comrades in 
bonds. If the truth alone can set us free, to be in error 
and falsity must be spiritual imprisonment. Vice is 
moral slavery. Such spiritual prisoners are, in the World 
of Spirits, externally in darkness, more or less profound as 
they inwardly had more or less fully shut out the light of 
external truth : those who had utterly perverted the truth 
are in 6 outer ? darkness. Their homes are prisons; they 
endure all the privations of prisoners. In the spiritual 
world, the inner condition of men inevitably appears, for 
it dominates and fashions all their surrounding conditions. 
Because the internal states of the apostate Israelites, 
referred to by the prophet, had been of such a character, 
when they passed into the world of spirits such was their 
corresponding condition: they had in their natural life 
imprisoned their own souls ; and in the spiritual world 
their lot was the prison-house." 

"Were they altogether beyond hope?" I asked. 

" Not all of them ; for they were to be 6 visited/ " replied 
Dokeos, " and • visitation ' for many would mean release." 

" What saith the Word ? " said Sophos. 

Again I heard the chorus, but this time jubilant and 
triumphant ; the sounds appeared to swell as with thou- 
sands and tens of thousands of voices. It was over- 
powering in exultation, and seemed to me, indeed, as 
though I had heard the " quiring of young eyed cherubim." 
Then I saw successively projected upon the pale blue 
atmosphere, which seemed to thicken and grow opaque 
behind the lines of glittering, marvellous light, the follow- 
ing passages from the W^ord : — 



90 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

The Spirit of Jehovah God is upon me ; because 
Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings 

UNTO THE MEEK ) He HATH SENT ME TO BIND UP THE 
BROKEN-HEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVE, 
AND THE OPENING OF THE PRISON TO THEM THAT ARE 
BOUND.* 

I Jehovah have called Thee in righteousness, 

AND WILL HOLD THINE HAND, AND WILL KEEP THEE, 

AND GIVE Thee for a covenant of the people, for a 

LIGHT OF THE GENTILES \ TO OPEN THE BLIND EYES, TO 
BRING OUT THE PRISONERS FROM THE PRISON, AND THEM 
THAT SIT IN DARKNESS OUT OF THE PRISON-HOUSE. t 

I WILL PRESERVE THEE, AND GIVE THEE FOR A COVE- 
NANT OF THE PEOPLE, TO ESTABLISH THE EARTH, TO 
CAUSE TO INHERIT THE DESOLATE HERITAGES; THAT 

Thou mayest say to the prisoners, GO FORTH ; 

AND TO THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS, SHOW YOUR- 
SELVES. They shall feed in the ways, and their 

PASTURES SHALL BE IN ALL HIGH PLACES. THEY SHALL 
NOT HUNGER NOR THIRST: NEITHER SHALL THE HEAT 
NOR SUN SMITE THEM : FOR He THAT HATH MERCY ON 
THEM SHALL LEAD THEM, EVEN BY THE SPRINGS OF WATER 
SHALL HE GUIDE THEM. % 

As for Thee also, by the blood of Thy covenant 

HAVE I SENT FORTH THY PRISONERS OUT OF THE PIT 
WHEREIN IS NO WATER. TURN YOU TO THE STRONG- 
HOLD, YE PRISONERS OF HOPE.§ 

Fear not ; for I am with thee : I will bring thy 

SEED FROM THE EAST, AND GATHER THEE FROM THE 

* lsa. lxi. i. + Isa. xlii. 6, 7. % Isa. xlix. 8-10. 

§ Zech. ix. 11, 12. 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



9i 



WEST ; I WILL SAY TO THE NORTH, GIVE UP, AND TO 

the south, KEEP NOT BACK. Bring My sons from 

FAR, AND MY DAUGHTERS FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH; 
EVERY ONE THAT IS CALLED BY My NAME : FOR I HAVE 
CREATED HIM FOR My GLORY ; I HAVE FORMED HIM, YEA 
I HAVE MADE HIM. BRING FORTH THE BLIND PEOPLE 
THAT HAVE EYES, AND THE DEAF THAT HAVE EARS.* 

Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; 

THEM ALSO MUST I BRING; AND THEY SHALL HEAR My 
VOICE; AND THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD, AND ONE SHEP- 
HERD, t 

The impression produced on my mind by this wonder- 
ful array of most significant passages of Holy Writ lies 
beyond description. They seemed to open up before me 
a vision of Mercy far exceeding anything I had previously 
conceived of ; and also a perception of the mode of 
Divine operation stretching across two worlds, the natural 
and the spiritual, and ever working in both. I looked up 
and saw the grave majestic face of Sophos, the younger 
and more energetic face of Dokeos, turned towards me, 
their eyes fixed on mine, in kind and even tender 
sympathy. 

"Well?" asked Sophos. 

"I am overwhelmed," I answered; "pray explain." 

The Lord's Work of Judgment, 

" When the Lord came upon the earth, ,, said Sophos, 
" there were gathered together in the World of Spirits all 
the spirits of men who had lived since the days of Noah, 
and the deluge of evils and falsities by which at that time 
the human race, excepting the remnant or residue, had been 

* Isa. xliii. 5-8. t John x. 16. 



92 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



destroyed. His Divine work of redemption had respect to 
these spirits in the World of Spirits, as well as to man on 
earth. Not only did He redeem mankind from the 
powers of hell, which had terribly enlarged itself, and 
threatened the extinction of mankind ; but in reducing the 
hells to a state of order, He effected a general judg- 
ment upon the spirits of men in the world of spirits, 
releasing all the prisoners from their prisons, separating 
the good from the evil, and elevating all the good to 
heaven, while banishing those who were confirmed in 
evil to hell. This side of the Divine work of the Re- 
deemer had been predicted by the prophets — His con- 
flicts with the hells — under the symbol of contests with, 
victories over, and subjugations of His enemies; His 
gathering the spirits of all men from every quarter of the 
world of spirits, under the symbol of a gathering of Israel 
from among all nations ; the judgment, under the symbol 
of the visitation of the spirits, some of whom were 
' prisoners of hope/ and some of whom were prisoners 
without hope awaiting only condemnation. ' The blind 
people that have eyes' signify those who had been in 
ignorance, in whom there was yet the ability of perceiv- 
ing ; and 'the deaf that have ears' signify those who had 
lived in disobedience, yet in whom there was still remain- 
ing the capacity of hearing and obeying the Lord, those 
who had not utterly perverted and profaned the truth. 
These were 'the spirits in prison' unto whom Peter says 
Jesus ' preached.' 

" Paul also says of the Saviour, ' Now that He ascended, 
what is it but that He descended into the lower parts of 
the earth' (Eph. iv. 9) ; concerning which lower, or nether 
parts of the earth, or ' the pit,' much is said in the Word. 
Thus Isaiah, speaking of Babylon and its people, under 
the symbol of Lucifer, says, ' Thou shalt be brought down 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



93 



to Sheol, to the sides of the pit' (Isa. xiv. 15). All who 
go to the ' lower parts of the earth/ however, are not 
doomed to destruction, for there they await judgment: 
therefore the prophet says, 6 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord 
hath done it; shout ye lower parts of the earth; break 
forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every tree 
therein; for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified 
Himself in Israel' (Isa. xliv. 23). The Redemption 
having been followed by a general judgment on the spirits 
of men, the angels could rejoice in the increase of their 
numbers, and thus the heavens could sing ; those of the 
lower parts of the earth, of Sheol or hades, who were good 
spirits looking for judgment, could shout for joy at their 
deliverance; the dwellers in the mou7ttains, those in 
more elevated states, could ' break forth into singing/ 
they could be joined by all those in whom there were 
perceptions of the Divine Will — the forests and every tree; 
all these could swell the praise of the Lord who had 6 re- 
deemed Jacob,' that is, all naturally-minded men who 
could also become spiritual, — and had 6 glorified Himself 
in Israel/ that is, in all who had become truly regenerate 
and spiritual.' 7 

" £)o not cease, O Sophos," I exclaimed. " You bring 
strange, but truly glorious things to my ears." 

"So likewise another prophet declares concerning 
Pharaoh and the multitude of Egypt : 6 They are all 
delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth in 
the midst of the children of men, with them that go down 
to the pit.' There is, therefore, no room left for doubt 
as to what is meant by these three phrases, ' death/ ' the 
nether parts of the earth/ and ' the pit ;' they signify Sheol 
or hades. We can also see the origin of the ideas, long 
entertained, that hades was in the natural earth, instead 
of being, where it is, in the earth of the spiritual world ; 



94 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



and that hell, the bottomless pit, was also in the natural 
world, in some internal fire, presumed to be burning in the 
centre of the earth for ever. They who so imagined were 
wrong; for the spiritual and natural worlds are as discretely 
distinct from each other as are the spirit and body of a 
man. Though the Egyptians were thus brought down to 
the nether parts of the earth and to the pit, the prophet 
further declares, f I made the nations to shake at the 
sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with 
them that descend into the pit : and all the trees of Eden 
[all those in whom there are heavenly' perceptions], the 
choice and best of Lebanon [all in whom there is a per- 
ception of love of the Lord], all that drink water [all 
capable of there receiving the truth, because not utterly 
immersed in evils], shall be comforted in the nether parts of 
the eartti (Ezek. xxxi. 14, 16). 

"Such are the ' other sheep ' whom the Lord was to 
bring, and who were to hear His voice, that He might be 
the One Divine Shepherd of all His sheep, whether they 
came from the east or the west, from the north or the 
south of the spiritual world, to sit down in the kingdom 
of God (Luke xiii. 29). Th e ' other sh eep ' were no t in the 
natural world, for the ministrations of the Saviour while in 
the flesh were not extended beyond Judaea and Samaria; 
yet these 6 other sheep' heard His voice, and He brought 
them ! Then also was fulfilled another of His Divine state- 
ments : ' The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead 
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear 
shall live. . . . Marvel not at this : for the hour is 
coming, in the which all that are in . the graves shall hear 
His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good 
unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil 
unto the resurrection of damnation' (John v. 25, 28, 29)." 

"Stay," I said. "Do not these words refer to the 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, 



95 



resurrection of the natural body and the general judg- 
ment at the last day ? " 

" There is no resurrection of the natural body," replied 
Sophos. " The notion of such a resurrection is unreason- 
able, contrary to Divine revelation, and untrue. When a 
man passes into the spiritual world he abides there for 
ever." 

" No resurrection of the natural body !" I exclaimed, 
astounded at the statement. "But we read, 'If the dead 
rise not, then is Christ not raised ; and if Christ be not 
raised, your faith is vain/ What must we understand by 
this?" 

" Dokeos will converse with you on that point pre- 
sently," rejoined Sophos. " Dismiss it, therefore, for a little 
while from your thoughts. You appear to imagine that 
the general judgment will take place in the natural world 
upon the risen natural bodies of men, who must, therefore, 
be gathered together on the earth, at some 6 last day.' 
This is a mistaken view. The scene of all judgment is 
the World of Spirits ; there alone could the spirits of all 
flesh be gathered together. Such a judgment is described 
in the Apocalypse as taking place in that world. That 
such a judgment has been already passed upon some 
must appear evident from the fact, that some have gone 
to heaven and some to hell; for unless they had been 
judged, how could they have received the recompence of 
their labours in heaven, or the reward of their doings in 
hell? Are these souls to be brought from their eternal 
homes to be judged a second time at some supposed 
'last day'? For what end would be this second judg- 
ment ? How could either heaven or hell be their final 
dwelling-place, their eternal home, if they needed thus to 
return to earth, or elsewhere, to be re-judged? 

" The phrase 6 the last day' has no relation to the earth, 



96 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



which is to endure for ever, that it may continue to be a 
birthplace of human intelligences, and thus a seminary of 
heaven. No portion of the Divine Word has been more 
misunderstood and misinterpreted than those which seem 
in the letter to refer to the 4 consummation of the age/ 
and the 'judgment to come.' Statements which are 
true only when understood to refer to either the spiritual 
states of the Church and of mankind, or to scenes which 
are to occur in the World of Spirits, have been regarded 
as predictions to be literally accomplished on the natural 
earth. Confusion of thought has resulted, and, in too 
many cases, an eclipse of faith. God, the Eternal Creator, 
will not become the destroyer. ' One generation goeth, 
and another cometh, but the earth abideth for ever.' The 
phrase 1 last day ' is rightly applied to man individually, 
and also to the times of the end of a dispensation or 
church. Applied to men, the phrase ' last day ' means 
the time of their end, of their transit from the natural 
into the spiritual world, their last day on earth, which 
will be absolutely their last ■ for when once they have left 
the world they will never return to it. Applied to a 
church, or dispensation of Divine mercy and revelation, 
it signifies its consummation, the close of that dispensation. 
In the latter sense it is applied in the Word to the 
termination of the Jewish dispensation, and also to the 
first state of the Christian Church, which is to be suc- 
ceeded by a new state, more abounding in love and light. 
It must be known to you, that the phrase ' end of the 
world/ used in the New Testament, really signifies the 
' end of the age, and not of the ' world the ' fulness of 
time ' means the preparedness of the time for the advent 
of our Lord." 

"True," I observed, "and hence Paul speaks of his 
time as 'the last days/ the time of the end, the fulness of 



THE INTERMEDIA TE ST A TE. 97 

times. I will remember, and will afterwards examine 
into these things," I added. " But you were speaking of 
the dead who should hear the voice of the Saviour." 

" I said that the Divine statement was fulfilled in the 
World of Spirits, where those who had been dead were to 
hear His voice, and that all who heard should live. The 
statement refers to the spirits in prison, who are said to 
lie as ' in graves/ because they had not yet arisen to 
judgment. There were both good and evil among them : 
the resurrection of life was the raising of the good to 
heaven ; the resurrection of damnation was the final dis- 
missal of the evil to hell. Natural bodies can exist in the 
natural world alone : those who ascend to heaven or 
descend to hell must be spiritual beings, and such can 
alone be found in the spiritual world. Consequently, 
those of whom the Lord spoke were spiritual beings in 
the spiritual world, who were awaiting the judgment, and 
whom the Lord, before He ascended, was to judge. 
They were to ' hear His voice/ and those who had done 
good were to rise to life : while those who had done 
evil were to rise to damnation. Thus understood, the 
Saviour's words were a prophecy, of which Peter declares 
the fulfilment, in his statement that the Lord preached to 
the spirits in prison." 

"This seems so strange, so startlingly new to me, 
Sophos," I returned, " that I need time to even under- 
stand it ; and much more before I could see whether it 
is true or false. I must examine into the matter." 

"Do so," said Sophos. "No man can intelligently 
believe that of the truth of which he is not rationally 
convinced. The wisdom of angels consists solely in this, 
that they see and comprehend what they think. They 
utterly reject the notion that the understanding ought to 
be kept in subjection to a so-called 6 faith.' They would 



93 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



ask, ' How can you believe a thing, when you do not see 
whether it is true or not?' Should any one affirm that 
what he advances must nevertheless be believed, they 
would reply, ' Do you think yourself a god that I am to 
believe you ? Or that I am mad, that I should believe an 
assertion in which I do not see any truth? If I must believe 
it, cause me to see the truth of what you affirm.' They are 
in the spiritual affection of truth, and therefore they enjoy 
an internal perception and acknowledgment of truth." 

When was it that the Saviour effected this great work 
in the World of Spirits ? Was it during the few hours 
that His body was in the sepulchre?" I asked. 

" Between the Lord's resurrection and His ascension 
'far above all heavens' there elapsed forty days, during 
which He was visible to the spiritual world in His Glori- 
fied Humanity. His Divine work was not previously 
completed, or He would at once have ascended. The 
subjects of His Divine operation, during these forty 
days, were the inhabitants of the World of Spirits, whom 
He judged, and those also of the heavens, which He 
established and arranged in order. When His Divine 
work was at length fully accomplished, He ascended 
to where He ' was before,' above ' all the heavens,' 
that in His Glorified Humanity He might thencefor- 
ward c fill all things/ The first consequence to men 
on earth of this glorification and ascension of the 
Lord's Humanity was the outpouring of His Spirit on 
the day of Pentecost. Other consequences have fol- 
lowed, and are following from it : the establishment of 
His Church, the enlightenment of mankind, and all the 
spiritual influences that have since been working in the 
world for the purification of society, the enfranchisement 
of thought, political liberty, human progress, and the 
spiritual regeneration of man. The advance has been 
slow, truly ; yet what a prodigious problem it is to solve, 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, 



99 



— that of leading men in perfect freedom to the voluntary 
love and practice of righteousness, the only permissible 
instrument being the proclamation of the truth, as far and 
as fast as the states of men will bear it ! The patience 
which needs to forbear with the millions of men through 
long thousands of years, while they seem to be working 
out, as of themselves and by themselves, the solution of 
the problem, is indeed an infinite patience ! But the 
problem and the patience are alike Divine." 

Sophos ceased. I had no answer to make. The 
speculation was too lofty for me to pursue further : it was 
to furnish matter for subsequent consideration, and not 
for immediate judgment. I could only listen, and suffer 
these teachers to lead my thoughts whither they would. 
Whatever objections I might, at another time and under 
other circumstances, have remembered, or conceived, 
came not now to my mind. It seemed theirs to speak; 
mine to hear. I think now of the mental state, which 
then appeared to have been induced upon me : it was 
that of sustained amazement at the mass of new ideas, 
flowing continually from these men ; impinging often on 
all my preconceived notions ; sometimes carrying, far 
beyond their old terminations, lines of thought along which 
I had previously to some slight extent travelled, and 
always opening up new vistas, down which I could gaze, 
and where I seemed to see most strange and yet not 
unreasonable things. 

After the pause, during which they again appeared to re- 
cede from me, and to become more aerial, as though, were it 
long continued, they might melt away from before me alto- 
gether, and vanish like beings of another sphere, I raised 
my eyes. They immediately approached me once more. 

" I will meditate at another time on all you have told 
me," I said. " It is clear to me that my present duty is 
to listen. Speak on." 



IOO 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



The Spiritual Significance of Numbers. 

" One word, before we quit this topic," said Dokeos. 
" Does it not seem to you that there must be an internal 
signification in the more than coincidence that the fast 
and temptation of the Lord in the wilderness continued 
for ' forty days/ and that the period between the resurrec- 
tion and ascension of our Lord was again ' forty days'?" 

"There is then a spiritual significance in the numbers 
employed in the Word?" I asked. 

" There is," replied Dokeos, " and many of the num- 
bers which have so often bewildered and defeated com- 
mentators have been used in the Word solely for the sake 
of their spiritual signification." 

"Is, then, this significance invariable?" I asked. 

" It is invariable," replied Dokeos. " Literal history 
in the Word, indeed, has often been made to bend to 
the superior exigency of conveying the right spiritual 
signification." 

" This at least explains why round numbers are so often 
employed in Scripture, " I observed. 

"And also shows how the errors of copyists of the 
Word should the less affect its real meaning ; the signi- 
fication of 10, ioo, 1000, or 10,000, of 2 or 20, of 3 or 30, 
of 4 or 40, of 7 or 70, of 12 or 144, or 144,000, being 
nearly the same, the last component of the mixed num- 
ber only intensifying the signification of the primary." 

"And you would have me infer from the repetition of 
the forty days — what ?" I inquired. 

" A full state of preparation : in the Lord's fast, a full 
state of preparation for His Divine work in the world § 
in the period between His resurrection and ascension, a 
full state of preparation for His ascending above the 
heavens." 



THE INTERMEDIA TE STATE, 101 

" And the forty days of descending rain at the time of 
the Deluge?" I asked. 

"A full state of vastation, or preparation for spiritual 
destruction/' answered Dokeos. 

" And the forty days fulfilled for embalming Jacob ; 
and the forty days' fast of Moses on Mount Sinai ; and 
the forty days after which the spies returned to Moses ; 
and the forty days that Elijah went in the strength of the 
meat which the Lord had provided ; and the forty days 
during which Ezekiel was to bear the iniquity of Judah ; 
and the forty days ere yet Nineveh was to be destroyed, 
according to the message of Jonah — what do these 
signify?" I demanded. 

" All of these signify a full state of preparation for the 
purpose named," answered Dokeos. "The same is 
signified in every mention that is made of forty, whether 
of men, or things, or years; as in the Divine promise 
that for the sake of forty righteous men in Sodom the 
city should be spared ; the forty sockets of silver used in 
the boards of the tabernacle ; the temple of Solomon, and 
also that seen by Ezekiel in vision, being forty cubits 
long ; Isaac being forty years old when he took Rebekah 
to wife ; Esau being forty years old when he took Judith ; 
the Israelites being forty years in the wilderness ; Moses 
being forty years old when he visited his brethren ; Joshua 
being forty years old when Moses sent him to espy out 
the land ; the Israelites in Canaan having peace under 
Othniel the Judge for forty years ; the Israelites, before 
the birth of Samson, being delivered into the hands of 
the Philistines for forty years ; Eli having judged Israel 
forty years ; the reigns of David and Solomon being each 
forty years ; the land being desolate and uninhabited for 
forty years, as predicted by Ezekiel ; and in all other cases. 
Each of these circumstances denote spiritual truths, and 



102 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



the number is significative. Each circumstance was like- 
wise a predictive type, referring, in its highest and inmost 
sense, to the Lord and to His Divine work." 

The Word in Heaven. — The Coming of the Lord. 

" Remember this," said Sophos : "when the angels read 
the Word, all the names of men, of countries, and of 
natural events and objects signify to them spiritual, yea, 
Divine principles, having reference to goodness and truth 
in relation to man, and to Love and Wisdom in relation 
to the Lord. In like manner, all numbers denote to them 
spiritual qualities; times express states, and duration 
denotes continuance of such states as are indicated by 
the times which are mentioned ; spaces and points of 
space, or places, convey to them the idea of spiritual con- 
ditions, from or to which rational and free intelligences, 
such as themselves, or men, may mentally journey, or 
through which they may pass. Hence all the journeys 
spoken of in the Word indicate to them advances or 
retrogressions in state. So all battles express to them 
the conflict of principles, severally represented by the 
combatants. Births denote to them the introduction of 
a new affection or a new truth into the soul ; and all the 
incidents of life are read by them as signifying changes 
of state. If men would read and think like the angels, 
they must learn to perceive in the literal, local, personal, 
and temporal statements of the Divine Word the spiritual, 
all-inclusive, universal, and ever-abiding significance of 
truth." 

"Have the angels then the Word of God?" I asked. 

" ' For ever, O Lord,' saith the Psalmist, ' Thy Word is 
established in heaven ' (Psa. cxix. 89)," answered Dokeos, 
" Besides, the Apostle declares of the revelations given 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 103 

through the prophets concerning 6 the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory which should follow/ — ' Unto whom it was 
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did 
minister the things which are now reported unto you by 
them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the 
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ; which things the 
angels desire to look into 7 (1 Pet. i. 12). The Word, there- 
fore, has an angelic, a spiritual side, which fits it for the 
study of angels. It has also a Divine side, making it the 
revelation of the Divine and Eternal Logos, the Written 
Word or Wisdom of God, testifying to the ' Word made 
flesh/ Angels understood the purpose for which the 
Lord would come ; they knew of the Scriptures which He 
came to fulfil ; a multitude of the heavenly hosts sang 
their new song in the hearing of the shepherds of 
Bethlehem ; they are so closely associated with men as 
to discern when they repent, or when they reject the 
truth ; they desire to look into and to understand the 
deeper mysteries of the Divine work of redemption and 
Providence ; they must, therefore, possess the Divine and 
Eternal oracles of the Most High." 

" If this be true, it would indeed elevate the revealed 
Word far above any estimate I had previously formed 
of it," I said. " If such spiritual truths as Sophos has 
referred to are everywhere contained in the Scriptures, 
the Word is rendered thereby an ever-living, ever-perti- 
nent, and universally applicable teacher of Divine and 
spiritual things." 

"And such it is," replied Sophos. "The Word is 
like a man clothed : the larger portion of his body is 
rendered invisible by his garments, which, however, 
adjust themselves to the form of his person, yet his hands 
and face are visible ; so. the interior wisdom of the Word 
is generally clothed in the literal history, precept and 



104 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

parable, yet everywhere adapted to contain it; still in places 
the inner wisdom, the abiding spiritual Word, is dis- 
cernible, uncovered and laid bare. Sometimes, too, ' the 
Word ' is transfigured before us, and its raiment shines as 
the light. The Lord has covered the inner glory, the 
spiritual wisdom of His Word, as with a cloud : at times, 
however, the cloud is very thin, the inner glory bursts 
through, so that all can perceive its true meaning, can 
discover its beauty and brightness, and its universal 
applications, and can plainly see that it is the ever- 
enduring wisdom of God." 

I sighed. " If this could be established, how speedily 
the gaunt spectre of unbelief would disappear from 
among mankind ! " 

" Not so," replied Dokeos. " When the Divine Word 
was made flesh, and dwelt in visible form among men, 
they scoffed at His claims, and denounced Him, who was 
God manifest, as a blasphemer against God ! They 
dressed Him in purple, to mock Him. They gave Him a 
reed for sceptre, and thorns for crown ; and, finally, they 
crucified Him. Were He to come into the world a 
second time in person, men would repeat the crime. 
How would the lowly Man of Nazareth be welcomed in 
the cathedrals and churches consecrated to His worship ? 
Would they suffer Him to preach on their steps ? How 
would He be treated were He again to drive out, with a 
scourge of cords, every money-changer, — every one who 
traffics in spiritual things for gain, — from temples dedicated 
to His name ? Would the rulers believe ? Would modern 
Pharisees submit to His ordinances ? modern Sadducces 
accept His teachings? or modern Herodians acknowledge 
His authority ? No. If He came, and was not accom- 
panied with the pomp of an external sovereignty, or with 
the might of attesting miracle, or with flaming terrors, 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



and an unbearable glory, most of the people who profess 
to be His disciples would reject Him, deride Him as an 
impostor, or imprison Him as seditious. The streets of 
Rome, or of Paris, or of London, would furnish no fitting 
place for His sermons. The many would marvel, some 
would scoff, hundreds would persecute, and only a few 
would believe. Dared He to denounce the luxury and sins 
of the time, ten thousand voices would cry ' Fanatic ! ' 
and thousands, ' Charlatan !' Did He venture to correct 
the errors of centuries, or to propound broader principles 
of truth than the world has consented to regard as 
'His religion] a hundred Doctors, if they deigned to 
notice Him at all, would rush to debate with Him, while 
thousands of believers would declare them victorious !" 

" I fear there is too much truth in this," I replied. 
" Yet we look for His coming, and expect it with hope." 

" Dokeos is right," said Sophos. " He will come, not 
in person, but in spirit, to those who are in the natural 
world, and who long for His advent, and who desire to 
receive Him. His coming shall be 'in the clouds of 
heaven/ in the revelation of the internal or spiritual 
signification of His Holy Word, to those whose internal 
states fit them to understand and to value it aright. 
His first coming was as 'the Word made flesh,' the 
Divine Wisdom become incarnate; His second coming 
will be as the Word glorified, the Divinity of the Word 
being revealed by the open manifestation of its indwell- 
ing Wisdom and sanctity." 

"Yes/ added Dokeos, "and His coming will bring 
clearer perceptions of Divine truth to all longing and 
expectant eyes ; deeper aspirations for holiness, and 
loftier spiritual attainments to all those whose one 
great purpose of life is to know and love their God ; 
enlarged powers of use to those who have learned the 



106 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

grandeur of humility and the dignity of ministration, 
whose life-ambition it is to render true service for 
mankind ! 

" The results of His coming will be greater intellectual 
liberty, a wondrous development of science, a greater 
knowledge of and control over the forces of nature, a 
broader charity, a deeper sense of the necessity of good- 
ness, a growing impatience and hatred of war, and largely j 
extended political freedom. All nations will feel the new 
impulses which He will give to true progress ; and old 
things will rapidly be replaced by new and better things. 
To His universal Church He will come, with clearer light 
to those who seek to learn, with deeper experiences to 
those who desire to love, with greater ability to those 
who strive to work. He will come in the majesty of His 
truth to judge the souls of men in the World of Spirits ; 
with the bounties of His grace to them, who, like the 
wise virgins, have brought their lamps, and oil in their 
vessels with their lamps ; with the terrors of His glory to 
those who, because they love darkness and hate the light, j 
will cry to the rocks and hills to cover them, to hide them 
from — amazing contrast ! — 'the wrath of the Lamb'!" 

"Would that He were already come !" I exclaimed. 
"But to go back to our previous topic. Thus far, I see 
clearly, there is, there must be, an intermediate state; 
and it also seems evident that men are to be judged, not 
in this world, but in that ' World of Spirits/ before they 
go either to heaven or hell. Yet, while I cannot see, if 
this view is correct, that there is any necessity for the 
resurrection of the natural body, either as being essential 
to immortality, or to consciousness, or to rewards or 
punishments, the denial of this doctrine, which the 
Church has so consistently taught, does appear startling." 

"Dokeos," said Sophos with great dignity, "answer 
our friend." 



CHAPTER V. 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 

E do not deny the resurrection, nor the resur- . 
rection of the body," said Dokeos. " There 
are, however, two points on which it is pro- 
bable we may differ. The first is as to the nature of the 
resurrection body ; and the second is as to the time at 
which the resurrection of man really takes place. We 
affirm that the resurrection body is the spiritual body, or 
the body of a man's spirit, which is fitted to dwell in the 
spiritual world, where alone it can dwell ; and that the 
time of the resurrection is immediately after the death of 
his natural body. Your remark seems, on the contrary, 
to intimate your opinion that the resurrection body is to 
be the old natural body, which the spirit had previously 
abandoned, which is to be raised from the grave, changed, 
in some mysterious manner, as to its character and 
qualities, and into which the spirit is to return, so as 
thenceforward to inhabit that still material though spiri- 
tualized natural body for ever; and further, that this 
resurrection is to take place at some period, still in the 
future, when, at what is termed 'the last day/ all the 
decayed natural bodies of men are thus to rise. Do I 
state the position fairly?" 




io8 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



" Fairly enough," I replied. " There is, however, 
some difference of opinion among Christians as to 
whether the bodies of all men, both good and evil, will 
rise simultaneously at the last day; or whether the 
bodies of such alone who have believed in the Lord 
Jesus will rise first ; and then, after an interval of a 
thousand years, the bodies of unbelievers. Indeed, 
there are some who maintain that the bodies of unbe- 
lievers will not rise at all, contending that c eternal life ' 
is promised only to those who believe ; others teach that 
though the bodies of unbelievers rise, they will, im- 
mediately after the Judgment, be annihilated. These 
points, however, need not burden the discussion.'' 

" We will confine ourselves, then, to the two questions 
actually at issue," said Dokeos. " You will remember the 
distinction indicated by Paul, between the two bodies, 
the mortal and the immortal?" 

" Yes. The mortal body he terms the natural — the 
psychical; the immortal body, the spiritual — the pneu- 
matical" I rejoined. "Our modern usage of the terms 
psychical and pneumatical render it both difficult to 
understand the force of the Apostle's words and mislead- 
ing to employ them in this connection. We use psychical 
as that which is purely spiritual, and pneumatical as that 
which is aerial : the Apostle, however, evidently employed 
the words with a contrary meaning. With him, the 
spiritual body was the pneumatical, the natural body was 
the psychical? 

" We need not discuss Paul's ideas of metaphysics, nor 
need we use his terms. The words natural and spiritual 
are sufficiently distinct and descriptive," replied Dokeos. 
" We are so far clear then. It is what Paul designates 
the psychical, or the natural body, which is put off, and 
laid down at death. Which body, then, is to rise?" 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 109 



"The spiritual body, which the Apostle styles the 
pneumatical, is to rise," I answered. 

" Now, can one thing at the same time be itself, and 
also another thing ? " 

" Obviously, that is impossible," I replied. 

" Then, if it is the spiritual body which is to be raised, 
and one thing cannot at the same time be itself and also 
another thing, how can you assert that it is the natural 
body which is to rise ?" 

" That point is clear ; it is manifestly an error to say 
that the natural body will rise," I responded. " But will 
it not be the same body as was laid in the grave, the 
same material body, I mean? Perhaps the terms 'natural 1 
and e spiritual 1 are only descriptive of the nature and 
kind of life by which the two bodies will have been 
animated." 

"We will inquire," rejoined Dokeos. "The natural 
body then, it is evident, is not to rise ; but the spiritual 
body is that which is to be raised. The question now is, 
— Will this spiritual 'body be the same material body as that 
natural body which was abandoned at death ? Was it, 
then, the spiritual body which was abandoned at death ?" 

"No; but the body shall be changed." 

" If, then, the body is to be changed, and if a thing 
cannot be at the same time itself and another thing, in 
what sense can the resurrection body be the same as that 
which was put off at death ? " 

" It may be the same in the sense of its being the same 
material body; but, after the resurrection, the character 
and quality of its life may be different," I replied. 

"Then, the change is not to be in the absolute nature 
of the body which shall rise, but in the character of the 
life by which, after it is raised, it will be animated. Is 
this your meaning?" 



no WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE 



" Yes," I answered, with some hesitation. 

"You do well to hesitate," rejoined Dokeos; "for 
your meaning actually amounts to this : — that the spiritual 
body will not rise at all. For, as you admit, the spiritual 
body is not in the grave, and as only that which is in the 
grave can rise from the grave, the spiritual body cannot 
rise from the grave. You say, further, that it is the old 
material body which is in the grave, and which will rise from 
the grave; but that in consequence of the new character 
and quality of life which will descend into and animate 
this body, it will thenceforth be termed spiritual Hence 
it is only by anticipation that it is called the spiritual 
body. For it must be evident, that until the various 
members of this body which, you say, is to rise, are 
gathered together, and thus, the body is re-formed, the 
spirit, which is to make it a spiritual body, cannot enter 
into and revivify it. While it is thus being re-formed, it 
is neither natural nor spiritual, but material alone ; for 
until it is vivified by the spirit, it cannot be spiritual; and 
it is also evident that, unless this process of re-forming is 
purely subterranean, the re-uniting members must rise 
before they are vivified; hence, after all, it is not the 
spiritual body which is to rise, but a material body, 
which, after rising, is to become a spiritual body. To 
this conclusion we are driven by your premises. " 

" I cannot reply to you/' I said. 

"Let -us now inquire," continued Dokeos, "what you 
mean by this antithesis, natural and spiritual, as applied 
to the body. In what does the difference consist ? Is 
it a moral difference, affecting the moral character of 
those who inhabit those spiritual bodies ? " 

" It may be/' I replied. " Let us say that it is, and 
that the spiritual 'body means the higher moral quality of 
those who possess such spiritual bodies." 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



in 



" How, then, as to those who rise, and who are after- 
wards damned ? Will they not possess spiritual bodies ? 
Will the change effected in their bodies, from natural to 
spiritual, be the implantation therein of this higher moral 
character of life ? " 

"It is manifest," I responded, "that this definition 
will not hold good." 

" Then, the difference not being of a moral character, 
as to the quality of the animating life, what is it?" 

" Tell me," I answered humbly. 

"It must therefore be as to the character and quality 
of the body itself," rejoined Dokeos. "Now, what are 
the essential constituents of the nahtral body?" 

" Flesh, and blood, and bones," I replied. 

" Can you conceive of a material body having no flesh ? 
or containing no blood?" 

"Certainly not; if the bones remained, it would be 
only a skeleton, an image of Death." 

" Truly. But do you not remember a statement of the 
Apostle as to flesh and blood not inheriting the kingdom 
of God?" 

" Yes. 6 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corrup- 
tion inherit incorruption,' " I answered. 

" The resurrection body, then, will not consist of flesh, 
nor will it consist of blood, nor, by parity of reasoning, 
will it consist of bones : how, then, can ' it be the old 
material body which died and was buried?" 

" I cannot see how," I returned. 

"But the Apostle affirms that the resurrection body is 
in no sense the same body as was sown. Do you not 
remember the statement?" 

" Yes," I responded. " He says, 6 But some will say, 
How are the dead raised up? and with what body do 



1 1 2 WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 



they come ? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not 
quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, 
thou sowest not that body that shall be] " I quoted. 

" How, then, can you affirm that the body which is to 
be raised will, in any sense, be the same as the body 
that was sown ? " 

" No, Dokeos,'' I answered, " we cannot so affirm with 
truth." 

" Let us try another line of inquiry. Where will be 
the eternal home for the good?" 
" In heaven of course." 
" And of the wicked.'' 
" Certainly in hell." 

"Are heaven and hell in the natural, the material 
world, or in an altogether different plane?" 

" They are certainly not in the natural world ; they 
must therefore be in such an altogether different plane," 
I replied. 

" Can you, then, conceive of a material body dwelling 
entirely in heaven or in hell, of which you are bound to 
assert, if you assert anything, that they are not material 
places in a material world?" 

" No, I cannot conceive of it," I answered; "for so to 
conceive would involve a contradiction." 

"Must you not conclude, then, that a natural, or 
material, world is the only plane in which material bodies 
can dwell ; and that spiritual bodies can dwell only in a 
spiritual plane or world ? " 

" It truly seems so," I replied. 

" And must you not also conclude that if the resurrec- 
tion body is a material body, and if the material body can 
dwell only in a material world, and if heaven and hell are 
not in any material world, then, in that case, the resurrec- 
tion body cannot dwell eternally in either heaven or hell?" 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 113 



" It certainly follows from the premises," I replied. 

" Then, does it not amount to a demonstration that, if 
heaven and hell are not in a material world, and the 
resurrection body is to dwell eternally in heaven or in 
hell, the resurrection body cannot possibly be a material 
body ? And still further : if, then, the resurrection body 
is not to be a material body, inasmuch as only the mate- 
rial body was buried in the earth, no such material body 
is to rise from the grave ? " 

"I cannot gainsay the argument despite the conclu- 
sion," I observed. 

" Now," said Dokeos, " we will approach the question 
from another point of view. You believe that the rich 
man of the Lord's parable did actually lift up his eyes in 
hell?" 

" Certainly." 

"That, therefore, he had eyes, and an obviously fair 
inference is that he had also a face, a tongue, hands, feet, 
and, in short, a body ? " 

" Undoubtedly," I answered ; " he must have possessed 
all these, and so must Lazarus, else they could not have 
recognised each other. Were not the spirit in the human 
form, recognition of friends in the spiritual world would be 
impossible." 

" True. You believe also that the thousands and tens of 
thousands who had been redeemed out of every nation, 
who were seen by John, as described in the Apocalypse, 
were actually seen by him ?" 

" Yes, certainly." 

"You believe that Moses and Elias were" actually seen 
by Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfigu- 
ration?" 

" Beyond all question," I replied. " It is distinctly so 
stated." 

H 



ii4 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



" Then, if these were actually seen, they must have 
possessed bodies of some kind ? " 
" They must, certainly." 

" What kind of bodies did they possess ? Material or 
natural bodies?" 

" No; for they were living in the spiritual world ; and 
the material bodies which they previously possessed were 
mouldering in the dust ; or some of them, doubtless, had 
been burned, inasmuch as cremation, or burning the dead, 
was then the practice." 

u They did not possess material bodies, that is certain," 
continued Dokeos. " What other kinds of bodies do we 
read about, or can we conceive of ? " 

" There are only two kinds of bodies spoken of in the 
Scriptures, the natural and the spiritual, the psychical and 
the pneumatical bodies," I answered. 

" These, then, had not natural bodies ; but there are 
only two kinds of bodies, natural and spiritual ; therefore, 
what kind of bodies had these men ? " 

" There is no escape," I said. " Spiritual bodies, evi- 
dently." 

" But what is that process by reason of which men are 
said in the Word to become spiritual bodies?" 
"The resurrection," I answered. 

" Observe the conclusion : So far as these men were 
concerned then, they had obtained their spiritual bodies ; 
but obtaining such spiritual bodies is the result of the 
resurrection ; consequently their resurrection had already 
been accomplished ! Must we not so conclude ?" 

" Indeed, it would appear so," I replied. 

" If these then had been already raised from the dead," 
continued Dokeos, " how can they need to look forward to 
some future Resurrection-day that they might obtain what 
they already possessed, viz. their spiritual or resurrection- 



r 



WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE ? 115 



bodies ? Their resurrection had already been realized. 
This resurrection had been of the spiritual body ; and 
which, further, had been raised into, and was existing in, 
the spiritual world." 

" You land me in a maze, Dokeos," I replied. " In 
order that I may feel my way to clearness and certainty, 
will you permit me to ask some questions ? " 
" Certainly," rejoined Dokeos. 

"Isyour view of the resurrection, that it is of the spiritual 
body into the spiritual world, and that it takes place im- 
mediately after death, really the teaching of the Word on 
this subject?" 

" It is," said Dokeos, solemnly. 
" Is it, Sophos?" I asked. 

" It is," replied Sophos, " and the angels are amazed 
that any other idea should prevail." 

The Saviour and the Sadducees. 

" Listen ! " added Dokeos. " The Sadducees believed 
there was no resurrection, that is, that there was no 
life after death ; for the two phrases were synonymous. 
Hence it is said in Acts xxiii. 8 ' that the Sadducees say 
that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit' 
Some of these once came to the Saviour, sarcastically 
proposing the case of a certain woman who had been 
successively married to seven brothers, and demanding 
whose wife she should be in the resurrection. The Lord 
answered, ' They which shall be accounted worthy to 
obtain that world and the resurrection of the dead neither 
marry, nor are given in marriage, neither can they die 
any more ; for they are equal unto the angels . . . Now 
that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, 
I when he called God the God of Abraham, the God of 

i 

1 



1 1 6 WILL THE NA TURA L BODY RISE t 



Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of 
the dead but of the living ; for all live unto Him ' (Luke 
xx. 34-38). Observe the manifest meaning of this Divine 
statement : to 6 obtain the resurrection of the dead' is to 
obtain 'that world] not the natural but the spiritual 
world ! Again : there is nothing said as to the resurrec- 
tion of dead material bodies, which could exist only in the 
natural world, but the resurrection of 6 the dead.' Those 
who are raised are further said to be 6 equal unto the 
angels/ or, as Mark records the words, 'as the angels which 
are in heaven ' : they are with the angels in heaven, not 
restored, by resurrection, to the earth ; they are 6 as,' 
or 4 equal with,' the angels! Who dreams of the 
angels ever having re-assumed once natural, but resusci- 
tated material bodies? Yet the angels have spiritual 
bodies ! But further still, the Saviour's reply affirms that 
the dead were then being raised ; that they had been 
raised in all former times ; that Moses had a perception 
of this truth, and had indeed declared it in describing 
God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. " 

" Many commentators," I remarked, " have allowed 
that this passage teaches the continued existence of the 
soul after death, and not the resurrection." 

" Yet, does it not seem strange if there were any other 
doctrine of the resurrection, that the Lord should not 
have taught it on this occasion ? The question was most 
pointed ; both the question and the answer have been 
recorded for the instruction of all men everywhere. Can 
you safely accuse the Lord of suppressing the truth ?" 

" You confound me again," I exclaimed. 

"The very word rendered resurrection indicates the 
true idea," continued Dokeos. " It is anastasis, which 
is derived from the root anistemi; a compound of ana, 
upwards, or again, and istemi, to stand ; or, if used 



WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE ? 117 



actively, it means to cause to stand. The noun form ana- 
stasis means, therefore, a standing again, or a standing 
up. It is used in 6 he arose (anastas) and followed him/ 
in ( raise up (anastesei) seed to his brother,' in 'till 
another king arose (aneste),' in ' if Satan rise up {aneste) 
against himself/ and in many other similar cases. None 
of these uses of the word imply a rising again. Dead 
things lie prone and prostrate : living things stand up; to 
say that men shall realize an anastasis is not to say that 
their material bodies shall rise again; but that they, the 
men themselves, shall rise up, or stand up, or continue to 
exist after death. Only in one case (Matt, xxvii. 53) is 
another word used for resurrection, egeiro, to raise, with its 
derivative egersis, raising, and this latter is applied to the 
resurrection of the Saviour alone, whose resurrection, as I 
shall show you, differed from that of all others, and which 
is therefore described by a different word." 

" I shall note that point, Dokeos," I remarked. 

" Do so, for we shall soon need to return to it/' replied 
he. " Because, then, anastasis meant the future existence, 
or standing up of those who die, the Sadducees employed 
this word, and the Lord's answer was complete. It con- 
founded them out of the 6 Law/ which they acknowledged ; 
and it also satisfied the Pharisees who witnessed the 
confusion of their dialectical opponents. But from the 
Saviour's answer, it is evident that His Divine definition 
of the anastasis, or resurrection, is the future state of 
existence, and certainly not a resurrection of material 
bodies. 

" Further, it is remarkable that, as given by Luke, the 
Lord's statement is even more pointed than in the 
parallel passage in the other Gospels. Matthew records 
it, ' But concerning the resurrection of the dead, 1 but Luke 
records it, 'the resurrection that is from the dead' (tes 



it8 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 

ek nekro?i), or from out of the dead ; meaning really a re- 
surrection of the spiritual body from out of the dead body. 
The same emphatic form is used in Acts iv. 2, 'They 
taught the people, and preached through Jesus the re- 
surrection that is from out of the dead ; ' so in Phil. iii. 
n, the Apostle desires, 'If by any means I might attain 
unto the resurrection from out of the dead" To this 
latter passage and its context we shall also need to 
return. Our present conclusion, as to the Lord's words 
to the Sadducees, must be that He certainly did not 
teach the notion of a resurrection of dead material 
bodies." 

"I must admit so much, Dokeos," I rejoined. "But 
Paul, does he not teach the doctrine ? " 

Paul and the Resurrection. 

" It would be somewhat dangerous to Paul to say that 
he taught a doctrine which the Saviour, by reasonable 
implication, denied," replied Dokeos. " But this is not 
necessary, as Paul certainly never taught the notion which 
so many fancy they find in his Epistles. For example, 
Paul taught, ' For we know that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For 
in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon 
with our house which is from heaven. . . . Therefore we 
are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home 
in the body, we are absent. from the Lord; for we walk 
by faith, not by sight : we are confident, and willing 
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present 
with the Lord' (2 Cor. v. 1-8). The Apostle here draws 
a contrast between the two bodies. The ' earthly house 
of this tabernacle' evidently means the earthly, the 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 119 



natural, or, as he elsewhere terms it, the psycJiical body, of 
which he wrote in his first Epistle : of this he says that 
while present therein, he was 6 absent from the Lord ; ' 
and he gives a reason for this, ' we walk by faith, not by 
sight/ The ' building of God/ the 6 house not made with 
hands/ evidently means the risen, or, what he terms 
the pneumatical or spiritual, body : of this he says that it 
shall be ' eternal in the heavens/ not such a material 
body as would necessitate its possessor to return to and 
dwell on a material earth ; and, further, that to be in that 
spiritual body would be to be 6 present with the Lord/ 
and walk no longer by faith, but by sight. The contrast 
is thus complete. But observe : Paul uses the present 
tense in respect of that ' building of God,' not the future : 
'we have/ not 6 we shall have. 1 Certainly, the Apostle 
does not here imply any forsaking of the building of God 
which was to be eternal in the heavens ; or any returning 
after many ages to the earth, and dwelling there in a 
resuscitated material body. The expectation of possess- 
ing this spiritual body, this building of God, was to be 
realized immediately after death. Hence, he says again, 
6 For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For I am 
in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to 
be with Christ, which is much better ? (Phil. i. 21-23). 
The anastasis or resurrection that Paul desired was, 
therefore, the same as that of which the Saviour spoke to 
the Sadducees, occurring immediately after the death of 
the natural body. It is the same anastasis as that to 
which the Preacher in Ecclesiastes referred, — ' Then shall . 
the dust return to the earth, and the spirit shall return to 
God who gave it ' (Eccl. xii. 7). This, the resurrection 
of man in his spiritual body into the spiritual world, is 
the only resurrection which the Word predicates for 
man." 



1 20 WILL THE NA TURAL BODY RISE f 



The Lord's Resurrection. 

" But, Dokeos," I exclaimed, " let us come to the main 
point at once : Did not the Lord's body rise ? Is not 
His resurrection a pattern, and also a pledge, of the 
resurrection of man ? " 

"Now we touch the kernel of the dispute," rejoined 
Dokeos. " It is true that the Lord rose with His whole 
body complete. He said, 6 A spirit hath not flesh and 
bones as ye see Me have:' thus affirming a distinction 
between Himself and all spirits, not even excepting ' the 
spirits of just men made perfect.' This point is fully 
admitted; the point which needs to be proved is that 
the resurrection-body of the Saviour is the pattern and 
example of the resurrection-bodies of all men. This I 
deny. Jesus was in all respects one by Himself. Ob- 
serve how far this isolation really extends : He had no 
human father ; from birth He was 6 that holy thing ' to be 
born of the Virgin, 6 the Son of God ; 7 His body could 
walk on the water ; it could even make itself invisible ; 
and it could also be transfigured before the disciples. It is 
said of Him alone, 6 Thou wilt not leave His soul in 
hades, nor suffer Thy holy one to see corrupt™?!.' In these 
respects, Jesus differed from all men; and differing so far 
from men in the character of His birth, and in the nature 
of His body, is it surprising that He should differ in the 
nature of His resurrection-body? He alone ascended 
far above all the heavens ; but as the manner of His 
ascension was different from that of any man, so also 
His resurrection-body differed from that of any man, 
We have already noted that His resurrection is ex- 
pressed by a different word, egersis (Matt, xxvii. 53), 
while anastasis is applied to the resurrection of all 
others." 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 121 



" But John says," I urged, " 6 Now are we the sons of 
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but 
we know that when He appeareth, we shall be like Him ; 
for we shall see Him as He is ' (1 John iii. 2)." 

"There is, undoubtedly, a parallelism between the 
Saviour and all who love and obey Him," replied 
Dokeos. " How far does this parallelism extend ? Will 
the disciples be like their Lord as to substance ? That 
cannot be ; for He is divine, and they are human. Like 
Him in glory ? That cannot be ; for He hath ascended 
above all heavens, that He might fill all things, and 6 they 
will go to their own place.' Like Him in form ? Yes, 
for He is the Divine Man, after whose image and in 
whose likeness they were fashioned. Yet, who would 
say, that because man was originally formed in the image 
and likeness of God, man's body was, therefore, of the 
same substance and character as the Divine Person? 
But if the non-identity of substance did not prevent man 
from being in the image and likeness of God, does it 
not follow that men may be 'like Jesus/ and yet the 
substance and character of their resurrection-bodies be 
altogether different from the substance and character of 
His ? They shall be like their Lord, not in the nature 
and substance of their resurrection-bodies — this of itself 
would not be a spiritual boon — but they shall be like 
Him in moral character. Hence, the Apostle continues, 
' Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself 
even as He (Jesus) is pure /' (1 John iii. 3). This means, 
that he who has this hope prepares himself to be morally 
like his Lord hereafter, by endeavouring, while in the 
natural world, to become morally like Him. The re- 
semblance, therefore, is a moral, a spiritual resemblance, 
and not one as to the substance and nature of His 
resurrection-body. It means like Him in holiness, in 



122 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



obedience, in purity. But such a moral likeness must be 
in the soul and not in the body. Hence the force of, 
' For we shall see Him as He is.' They should ' see 
Him/ because they would be morally i like ' Him : so He 
Himself also taught, — 6 Blessed are the pure in heart, for 
they shall see God.' That is, — being like God in the 
purity of their hearts, they should see God. If Johns 
words mean that until some yet future resurrection of the 
dead material body, the believers in Christ would not be 
' like Him,' then they declare that until that resurrection, 
the disciples should not see Him; because they would not 
till then be like Him. Will you assert this? For if 
your idea of the meaning of John's words be correct, it 
then follows that not one of the disciples have yet seen their 
Lord, because not one of them has obtained such a re- 
surrection body ! " 

" It does seem to so follow," I replied; " and of course, 
I cannot believe such a conclusion." 

" Of course not," said Dokeos; "for, again, it would 
deny all meaning to Paul's desire ' to depart and be with 
Christ,' or to his statement that ' to be absent from the 
body would be to be present with the Lord' " 

Christ the First-fruits. 

" You compel me to relinquish that text," I said, after 
a short pause. " But how am I to understand Paul's 
reasoning : that Christ is risen from the dead, and become 
the fir st-f raits of them that slept ; that by man came 
death, and by man came also the resurrection of the 
dead ; that as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be 
made alive ; every man in his own order : Christ the 
first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His coming ? 
(i Cor. xv. 20-23). If He be the first-fruits, does it not 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 123 



follow that none were raised before Him, and that all 
who are raised will be like Him ? " 

" You will observe," said Dokeos, " that the Apostle 
throughout the whole of this celebrated chapter does not 
say one word of the resurrection of unbelievers ; he speaks 
of the resurrection of those alone who should be Christ's 
at His coming. He contrasts the ' death ' which came 
by man, and ' the resurrection ' which came by the Divine 
Man, and presents them as counterfoils, the one of the 
other. If, therefore, we can learn what was the nature of 
the £ death ' which came by Adam, or, as we previously 
explained to you, by the fall of the Most Ancient Church, 
we may gain some perception of the real nature of the 
6 resurrection ' which came by Christ. The ( being made 
alive 1 through Christ is the direct contrast of ' dying in 
Adam;' and what is meant by the ' resurrection of the 
dead ' is also meant by the ' being made alive/ Do you 
agree with me to this extent ? " 

" Manifestly you are so far right," I rejoined, " else 
Paul's argument would be destitute of point." 

"Very well then. We have now to ask — What was 
the death which came by reason of man's sin ? Was it 
the death of the body ? " 

" Certainly not," I replied. " This is plain from the 
very words of Scripture, even when only literally under- 
stood. 6 In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely 
die/ said the Lord. Adam did eat thereof and lived, 
according to the letter of the Word, more than 900 years 
afterwards. To say that the possibility of dying then 
first came upon Adam is to wrest the word die out 
of its evident meaning. To say that the 'day' there 
mentioned means 6 a day of the Lord/ which the Psalmist 
says is ' a thousand years/ and that Adam did literally 
'die' within this thousand years, is to wrest the word day 



124 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



out of its evident meaning. In either case, one of the 
two words, day or die, must be spiritually understood." 

" It is well reasoned," said Dokeos. " The only pos- 
sible interpretation is attained by understanding both 
words spiritually — the 6 day' meaning the state of disobedi- 
ence; and the 6 death' being spiritual death, the extinction 
of all true spiritual life of love and wisdom, of joy and 
peace ; the destruction of the capacity to receive internal 
life, and also the destruction of the internal life previously 
received into that capacity." 

" Besides," I added, "death was in the world myriads 
of years before man was created. The command to in- 
crease and multiply, and also the bestowal on man of the 
powers of reproduction, as in the case of all other organic 
creatures, further implied the death of the earliest repro- 
ducers ; according to your own recently urged argument, 
that where space is limited in extent, and matter is limited 
in quantity, increase could only reach a certain point, 
when death must ensue ; because there would then be no 
more space in which increase could go on, and no more 
matter to be utilized by food-consuming man as his 
means of subsistence. Besides, in obeying the very com- , 
mand to eat of the herbs and fruits of the earth, man was 
compelled to inflict death on vegetable forms of life. 
There is, again, no reason for supposing that the animals 
surrounding the earliest men should have been exempted 
by a special Providence from dying, and thus from shar- 
ing in what had been the common fate of their kind for 
ages. Death, consequently, was a spectacle which man 
must have witnessed ; the necessity of eating inflicted 
death that he might live ; the command to increase was 
an implication of death ; the existence of medicinal herbs 
and minerals by which man was surrounded, and the 
properties of which only man could come to understand 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 125 



and utilize, was prophetic of disease, which again is 
prophetic of death. Even the menace of death could 
not have been comprehended by man had he never wit- 
nessed death, and known nothing of its nature. Thus 
the death of the body must have been a contingency to 
which man was liable from the beginning, and, therefore, 
the death of the curse could not have been the death of 
the body." 

"Your argument is resistless," said Dokeos. " But, 
again, what was the ' death' from which the Saviour has 
rescued mankind ? Is it the death of the body?" 

" I must answer, No," I rejoined. " The Apostles all 
died. Even John, to whom a mysterious and misunder- 
stood promise was given, had to die. Lazarus, the son of 
the widow of Nain, Dorcas, and Eutychus, though their 
bodies had been raised from the dead, have all had to die. 
It is appointed unto all once to die, and after death the 
judgment ; and these words certainly declare that all 
must die, and they also imply a judgment in the spiritual 
world, of which you were speaking just now." 

u If then," said Dokeos, " the death of the curse suf- 
fered by all men in Adam was not the death of the body, 
but spiritual death ; and if the death from which men are 
rescued in Christ is not the death of the body, but 
spiritual death; must we not understand that the resur- 
rection, which is promised to man, in the resurrection 
which came by Christ, is a spiritual resurrection — the 
being 4 made alive' in our Saviour and God?" 

" Indeed, it would seem so," I replied. " Man died 
spiritually in Adam ; man is to be made spiritually alive 
in Christ. The contrast is equally preserved ; it is even 
more forcible than though we understood it to mean 
merely that as the body died in or through Adam, so at 
some far off future day the material bodies of all men 



126 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



should be revivified. Besides, it is in harmony with much 
else that Paul wrote." 

"The conclusion is just," interposed Sophos. "You must 
be aware that there are two meanings attached in the Word 
to death — one expressive of the natural idea, the death 
of the body; the other expressive of the spiritual idea, the 
death in the soul of all spiritual life, which is the life of 
love and wisdom, of faith and charity. The human will, 
when in a state of order, is as a vessel or receptacle of the 
Lord's Divine love ; and the understanding, when in order, 
is the receptacle of Divine wisdom. When, by reason of 
disorder, man's will and understanding cease to be such 
receptacles, the man is said to be spiritually dead. There- 
fore it is said in the parable, ' This my son was dead, and 
is alive again.' The Apostle also says to the Ephesians, 
' You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and 
sins;' so likewise he says to the Romans, 'Likewise 
reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but 
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord ;' and 
again, ' Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive 
unto God. 1 He further tells us, ' To be carnally minded 
is death ; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace? 
There are thus two kinds of death. The last enemy 
over whom the Lord is to triumph is death ; this must 
mean spiritual death, and not natural death : for natural 
death is the gate of life." 

" I am aware of this twofold meaning of death," I 
answered. 

"There are, similarly, in the Word two meanings 
attached to the word 6 resurrection,' " continued Sophos ; 
" one is the resurrection which all, both good and bad 
alike, experience into the spiritual world ; and the other 
is the resurrection of regeneration, which is experienced 
only by the good, and which such commence to ex- 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 127 



perience during their life in the natural world. These 
two ideas of resurrection are so constantly associated in 
the writings of Paul, as sometimes to render it difficult to 
separate them. Hence comes the circumstance that in 
the fifteenth chapter of Corinthians he speaks of the 
resurrection of believers alone : and Jierein may be seen 
the point of his argument as to the contrast between the 
6 death' which came through Adam, and the 'life' which 
cometh through the Lord." 

" The idea is suggestive," I said, " and I foresee that it 
will explain a considerable group of Paul's sayings on 
this subject. But, Dokeos, I await your explanations as 
Jo Christ being the first-fruits." 

"Let us then, in the first place, examine the state- 
ment with which Paul opens his argument,' 7 said 
Dokeos. " He says, ' If the dead rise not, then Christ 
is not raised. . . . Then they also which are fallen 
asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we 
have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most 
miserable.' Now, does this mean that if, at some future 
time, the bodies of the dead should not rise, that would 
prove that Christ had not risen ? If so, it means, that 
until the resurrection takes place, we have no sufficient 
proof that Christ was raised ! But how could an event 
which is yet in the future prove that another event, which 
was in the past, did really take place ? Again : how does 
the possibility of such a future resuscitation prove, what 
Paul afterwards urges, — that, if Christ be not raised, then 
they ' which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished'? 
The idea of a resurrection immediately after death is 
evidently needed to make any sense of Paul's argument : 
Christ was raised, therefore men are raised; men are 
raised, therefore they which are fallen asleep in Christ 
have not perished. Hence the force of the statement 
I which follows, i If in this life only we have hope, we are 



123 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



of all men the most miserable 1 ! Our hope, that is, must 
be in the other life, into which men are raised. Either, 
then, Paul's argument is no argument at all, or he must 
have been speaking of a resurrection which was then 
taking place ; and so he teaches the same doctrine of the 
anastasis as was taught by the Lord." 

"This appears forcible, Dokeos," I remarked. "Pray 
proceed. Paul continues, 6 Now is Christ risen and be- 
come the first-fruits of them that slept.' How is He the 
first-fruits, if the after-fruits are not to be like Him ? " 

"What is meant by them that slept?" asked Dokeos. 
" Does it mean that Christ was the first of all men to be 
raised from the dead ? It cannot mean this, for the Old 
Testament speaks of several who were raised from the 
dead. Does it mean that Christ was the first who ever 
ascended with His body to heaven? Yet those who 
would accept this interpretation would also say that 
Elijah, and perhaps also Enoch, had thus ascended. 
Does it mean that none were raised from the dead, but 
that all were 6 sleeping ' until Christ ? This would con- 
tradict the Lord's own declaration that '.the dead are 
raised,' were then being raised, had been raised, indeed, 
in the days of Moses, and ever since. Is it not plain, 
then, that ' Christ the first-fruits ' cannot mean first in 
point of time? " 

" It would indeed appear so," I rejoined ; " or else the 
Saviour must have meant by ' the dead are raised ' some- 
thing quite different from what Paul meant by the same 
phrase ; and this would involve the impossible supposi- 
tion that the teachings of both are inconsistent." 

" That is true," continued Dokeos. " The word 
Aparche used by the Apostle, and which you translate 
' first-fruits,' is compounded of apo and arche, and 
literally means from the beginning. Another form of the 



WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 1 29 



same root is archegos, literally, he who precedes another as 
leader, and which is used in the statement that Jesus is 
the Author {the beginner) and finisher of our faith. The 
Lord Himself employs the same root in ' I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning (arehe) and the end ; ' and likewise 
in 'These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true 
witness, the beginning (arehe) of the creation of God.' 
The term arehe, in all its forms, signifies precedence; but 
precedence is of two kinds — precedence in time, and 
precedence in dignity. We have seen that Christ could 
not have been the Aparche of them that slept in the 
precedence of time : He is therefore the Aparche m the 
precedence of dignity. This thought is emphasized when 
we think of the real force of the term ' order ' — ' every 
man in his own order: 7 the word is tagma, which literally 
means rank, as a body of troops drawn up in military 
order, and which, therefore, implies succession in dignity 
and excellence, rather than succession in time. As to His 
resurrection, as with all else, Jesus was the first and the 
last, the beginning {arehe) and also the ending: He, the 
first in order, rank, dignity, and excellence; and after 
Him, every man in his own rank, or order of dignity and 
excellence." 

" The argument appears to be strong, and requires 
meditation. I am not now ready to reply to it," I replied. 

" There is," continued Dokeos, " another reason why 
Christ should be called the Aparche. In the time of 
man's first transgression, the promise was given that the 
Saviour should come, and that He should bruise the 
head of the serpent. This Divine purpose runs through 
all the ages, forms the inmost meaning of the Word, and 
underlies all the arrangements and dispensations of 
His Mercy. Prophetically, therefore, He was ever the 
Aparche, and it was by Him, and through Him. and be- 

1 



1 30 WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 



cause of Him, that all who slept were successively raised, 
each in his own order. Thus prophetically, He was the 
first-fruits in the precedence of time, as He is ab- 
solutely, the first-fniits in the precedence of dignity." 

"That is, indeed, a helpful thought/' I exclaimed. 
" But why was it necessary that Jesus should rise with 
His whole body complete, and thus be so unlike all 
others ? " 

Sophos answered me. "The Lord rose again not 
only as to His spirit, but also as to His body, because 
He glorified His whole Humanity when He was in the 
world, that is, He made it wholly Divine ; for the soul 
which He had from the Father, and which was the 
Father in Him, was the very Divine itself, and His body 
was made a likeness of the soul, that is of the Father, 
and therefore Divine also. Hence He, differently from 
any man, rose again both as to spirit and as to body. 
Having thus glorified the lowest principles of the 
Humanity which He assumed, the Lord has made that 
Humanity to be the Mediator, or Divine Means, or 
Medium, by which may flow Divine influences able to 
reach to the lowest and most naturally minded on earth, 
as well as to the highest and wisest angel in the heavens. 
This is wisdom for those who can receive it. " 

" Our Vile Body." 

"Your answer and explanation shall have my most 
serious thought, Sophos," I replied. "There is another 
of Paul's sayings, Dokeos, which I wish you would 
explain. He says that Jesus ' shall change our vile body 
that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body : ' 
does not this refer to the natural body which is to be 
changed ? " 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 131 

" Surely Paul was not a Gnostic," replied Dokeos. 
I "He did not believe that the material body was vile, 
and in essence sinful. He could not have so char- 
acterised the wonderful apparatus by which the spirits of 
men live in the world. Was it the material body of 
which he spoke when he said, 'O wretched man that 
I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' 
\ Did he wish some one to murder him ? Was it of the 
material body he spoke, when he told the Colossians 
that they had been ' circumcised with the circumcision 
made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins 
\ of the flesh;' or when he enjoined them to 'put off 
all these, — anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy com- 
| munication. . . . Lie not one to another, seeing that ye 
have put off the old man with his deeds ; and have put on 
the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the 
image of Him that created him'? (Col. ii. n-13, hi. 8-10). 
The c vile body ' is evidently the body of vileness, the 
'body of this death/ the 'body of the sins of the flesh/ 
the ' old man with his deeds/ which is to be changed, 
transformed from the image of the earthly that it may be 
conformed to the image of the heavenly. 

" You will also observe that the Apostle uses the word 
body in the singular, 'our vile body,' not bodies. If, how- 
ever, he meant that the Lord would change our material 
bodies, he surely would have said so. He also uses the singu- 
lar number in analogous phrases, — ' our old ma7i is crucified 
with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed ' (Rom. 
vi. 6); ' If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of 
sin* (viii. 10); and 'the old man with his deeds' which 
the Colossians had put off. But it is evident that to 
change the body of sin is quite another thing from 
changing the material bodies of men ; the two things must 
not be confounded." 



132 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



" It seems at least a reasonable supposition, Dokeos, v 
I rejoined. 

" And it becomes certain if we examine the context," 
said Dokeos; "the whole chapter (Phil, iii.) teaches not the 
notion of a future resuscitation of the natural body, but of 
such a moral and spiritual resurrection as shall render the 
soul an image and likeness of the Saviour. The Apostle 
says, therefore, that he counts all things but dross that he 
may win Christ, and be found in Him ; that he may know 
Him, and 6 the power of His resurrection, and the fellow- 
ship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His 
death: if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection 
of the dead. Not as though / had already attained, either 
were already perfect? 

" The 'power of the Lord's resurrection,' which Paul 
longed to know, evidently means the quickening power of 
the Lord, vivifying not dead bodies but human souls 
aforetime 6 dead in trespasses and sins.' The 'fellowship 
of the Lord's sufferings' manifestly points to the truth, also 
affirmed by the same Apostle (Heb. ii. io; v. 8, 9), that 
Christ was 'made perfect by sufferings.' He desired to 
suffer with Christ that he might be glorified together 
with Christ ; but this glorification was to be an inward 
and spiritual operation, not an external and physical one. 
So again : his being 'made conformable to His death] 
undoubtedly indicates a favourite doctrine of Paul, viz., 
that the disciples had been 'buried with Christ by bap- 
tism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from 
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so they also 
should walk in newness of life. For if they had been 
planted together in the likeness of His death, they should 
be also in the likeness of His resurrection' (Rom. vi. 3-13). 
Paul thus draws out the parallel lines between the his- 
torical experiences of Christ and the corresponding 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 133 



spiritual experiences of the believer, whose 'old man' is 
crucified with Christ, ' that the body of sin might be de- 
stroyed ; ' for, as he argues, 6 he that is dead is freed 
from sin.' In this spiritual repetition of the experiences 
of Christ, death means 6 dying unto sin/ resurrection 
means being 6 quickened ' by the Lord with spiritual 
life. 

" Only in this way can the appositeness of the next 
statement of Paul be understood. He desired all the 
foregoing blessings, in order that he ' by any means might 
attain unto the resurrection from out of the dead} for so 
the Apostle wrote. What does this phrase mean? 
Merely the future resuscitation of the material body ? It 
cannot mean that, for his body was not dead ; and it is 
further evident from his other statements to the Corin- 
thians and the Thessalonians that he did not expect to 
die, but to be among those who were to be 6 changed in 
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 7 What, then, was 
the resurrection which he longed to attain ? Not even 
the resurrection of the spiritual body into the spiritual 
world, for this was a universal destiny, and, further, could 
not be attained so long as man remained alive in the 
natural world. Surely it will not be said that Paul is 
here expressing merely a strong desire to die ! No : his 
idea of resurrection was that of a moral and spiritual 
resurrection. Hence his next remark is also apposite, 
• Not as though I had already attained, either were already 
perfect. 1 To be perfect, and to have attained the 6 resur- 
rection from out of the dead, J the full quickening with 
spiritual life of one who had once ' been dead in trespasses 
and sins/ these were with the Apostle synonymous ideas. 
This moral resurrection, however, is far other than of 
the material body : it is a resurrection into spiritual life. 

"Hence he further says, 'I follow (didkb, I pursue) 



134 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



after, that I may apprehend (katalambano, lay hold on) 
that for which also I am apprehended (laid hold on) of 
Christ Jesus. I count not myself to have apprehended (laid 
hold on, obtained) ; but this one thing I do, forgetting 
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
those things which are before, I press toward the mark 
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? 
Surely this prize is far higher than the resuscitation of 
the decayed material body, and which Paul neither 
expected nor desired ! 

" The chapter fitly concludes with the statement that 
Christ ' shall change our vile body,' not the physical body 
of flesh and blood, but the 'body of sin/ the body of 
vileness, the body of the sins of the flesh, the ' old man 
with his deeds' — that it may 'be fashioned like unto His 
glorious body, according to the working whereby He is 
able even to subdue all things to Himself.'" 

"Thank you, Dokeos," I exclaimed; "the argument 1 
seems clear and conclusive beyond all cavil." 

" To the Romans (vi., viii.), to the Corinthians (i Ep. 
xv., 2 Ep. v.), to the Ephesians (ii.), to the Philippians 
(iii.), and to the Colossians (ii., iii.), he taught the same 
deep-sighted perception of the practical import of the life, 
death, and resurrection of Christ; and to mistake the 
striking parallel for the declaration of a parallel merely 
between the resurrection-body of the Saviour and that of 
men, is surely to sacrifice a noble contribution to Chris- 
tian literature, in the vain attempt to find a notion which 
the Scriptures not only do not teach, but which they con- 
tradict and deny." 

"Deny, Dokeos?" 

"Yes, most explicitly deny," replied Dokeos. "'Dust 
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return' (Gen. iii. 19) ; 
'As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 135 



that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more 1 (Job 
! vii. 9) ; ' Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the 
land of darkness and the shadow of death' (Job x. 21) ; 
I 'Thou sowest not that body that shall be;' 'Flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth 
corruption inherit incorruption;' 'Then shall the dust 
return to the earth, and the spirit shall return to God 
who gave it.' Are not these sufficiently explicit ?" 

Job xix. 25-27. 

"I cannot resist their weight or their directness," I 
answered. "Yet as you have cited Job, does he not 
declare, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He 
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though 
after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be 
consumed within me? (Job xix. 25-27)." 

" Surely," replied Dokeos, " you must know that this 
is what the translators have made him say, and not what 
Job said. The words day, worms, and body are not in the 
original at all. The Greek Septuagint gives an altogether 
different reading of the passage : ' For I know that He is 
eternal who is about to deliver me, to raise again upon 
earth this skin of mine which draws up these things. For 
from the Lord these things have happened to me, of 
which I alone am conscious, and not another, and which 
have all been done to me in my bosom.' The Vulgate 
gives a version which combines the meaning of both the 
Hebrew and the Greek : ' For I know that my Redeemer 
lives, and that in the last day I shall rise from the earth ; 
and again I shall be enveloped with my skin, and in my 
flesh shall I see my God. Whom I myself shall see, and 



1 36 WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 



my eyes shall behold, and not another: this, my hope 
is laid up in my bosom.' 

"But the word Goel, which is translated 6 Redeemer/ 
is far more correctly vindicator, or avenger, or deliverer: 
it is applied to the 6 avenger of blood' who had to avenge 
on the manslayer the death of a near kinsman ; it is also 
applied to ' the redeemer' of a possession alienated by 
mortgage, as the kinsman of Naomi is said to have been j 
the Goel of the estate which Boaz bought on his marriage 
to Ruth. The text should read, — 6 1 know that my 
Vindicator liveth, and shall stand at the last upon the 
earth ; and though after my skin, this (probably the part 
of the body immediately under the skin) be destroyed, 
yet in my flesh shall I see God.' 

" The question turns on the point, What is meant by 
6 in my flesh'? The purpose of the whole book is to 
vindicate the Providence of God, and the only possible 
meaning of ■ in my flesh' is in this life, before I die. This 1 
meaning is evidently the true one, for it is said (chap, 
xlii. 5), ' I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, 
but now mine eye seeth Thee/ and further, 6 God blessed 
the latter (or last) end of Job more than the beginning 
and the number of his new possessions is recorded. The 
plan and purpose of the poem was to prove that there is 
a Divine Providence. Job is asked to give up his trust 
in God. He declares he will not : he knows that his 
Vindicator lives, and that he shall see his Vindicator 
before he dies ; and the poem ends by justifying Job's 
confidence, and vindicating the providence of God. 
There is, consequently, no reference to the Redeemer, 
or to the latter day, or to worms destroying his body, or 
to the resurrection of his flesh. Especially can there not 
be the latter, inasmuch as Paul states that flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE f 137 



" I see plainly that I must relinquish that text," I said. 
" And now I remember, even the Rabbi Menasseh Ben 
Israel, though he endeavours to force a reference to the 
resurrection of the body into many passages which cer- 
tainly cannot apply to it, asserts that this text in no way 
refers to the resurrection of the body. Mr. Barnes, also, 
though as he says ' contrary to what he had hoped/ feels 
himself compelled to abandon the notion that this state- 
ment contains any reference to the resurrection of the 
body. Many other commentators whose names have 
escaped my recollection likewise coincide in this view." 

"Had it been otherwise," said Dokeos, "Job would 
have been a prophet, instead of being the chief personage 
in a poem. He would have deserved to rank among the 
heroes of faith enumerated by Paul. Instead of this, he 
is presented as an example of patience : which, indeed, 
implies what I have said, that Job patiently waited for 
the appearance of his Vindicator, who in this life verified 
his expectation by fulfilling it, and finally manifested His 
favour in the gifts of health and abundance." 

Isaiah xxvi. 19. 

"The whole subject grows clearer to me," I remarked. 
" There is, however, the statement of Isaiah : — 6 Thy 
dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall 
they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust ; 
for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast 
out her dead' (Isa. xxvi. 19). What does this mean?" . 

"The prophet," said Dokeos, "is predicting the return 
of the Jews from their Babylonish captivity, and like 
Ezekiel, in the vision of the dry bones (chap, xxxvii.), he 
employs this vivid imagery. Yet in both prophecies, the 
return of Israel from captivity, and their triumph over 



138 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



their enemies, are the Divinely appointed symbols of the 
soul's return to the spiritual Canaan of faith and love, 
from the captivity and desolation of sin. Hence, the 
figure of a resurrection which these prophets have em- 
ployed, symbolizes the resurrection of regeneration. That 
Isaiah is not speaking of any resuscitation of dead bodies 
is evident from the 14th verse : — 'They are dead, they 
shall not live ; they are deceased, they shall not rise ; , 
therefore hast Thou visited and destroyed them, and made 
their memory to perish.' Unless, then, we believe that 
only the Jews are to rise from the dead, and that their 
enemies are not to rise, the passage cannot be made to 
apply to the resurrection of the body. 

"Further, the phrase 'the earth shall cast out her 
dead ' most certainly does not mean that the dead bodies 
which are in the earth shall rise therefrom — the meaning 
needed, if the statement refers to the resuscitation of dead 
bodies. Lowth, the translator of Isaiah, has far more 
correctly rendered the words : ' The earth shall cast 
forth, as an abortion, the deceased - tyrants the deceased 
tyrants are to be cast forth ; and the casting forth means 
an utter rejection and destruction of them. 

" Further still, the words ' together with 7 are not in the 
original ; and the words ' my dead body' are a strangely 
inadequate rendering of the Hebrew. The passage is, 
as Lowth has translated it, — 'Thy dead shall live, my 
deceased, they shall arise; awake and sing, ye that 
dwell in the dust f The passage, therefore, contains no 
reference to the resuscitation of dead bodies." 

" But/' I remarked, " does not the use of the image, 
by both Isaiah and Ezekiel, show that the idea of a resur- 
rection of the body was familiar to the Jews?" 

" Even if it were so," rejoined Dokeos, "we must ask, 
Whence did the Jews learn it? Not from the Scrip- 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 139 

tures ; for they do not teach it ! The Jews, at the time 
of the First Advent, had a notion of such a resurrection, 
which Martha expressed at the grave of Lazarus, and 
which the Lord corrected and rebuked, by declaring that 
He is the resurrection and the life, and that those who 
live in Him and believe in Him should never die, and 
that even those who before had been spiritually dead, 
and yet who believed, should likewise live. The fact 
that such a false notion existed at the time, only proves 
that that idea of the resurrection was not the true view 
of life and immortality, which was, as the Apostle says, 
\ brought to light by the gospel.' But the use of an image 
or figure does not prove that the idea embodied in the 
figure either had a basis of literal fact, or was a familiar 
idea to those among whom it was employed. What is 
the literal basis of 6 He shall give them the morning star' ? 
The Jews were, doubtless, acquainted with the idea of a 
resurrection of the dead : it was their subsequent carnal 
and materialistic commentary that led them to pervert 
this truth into meaning, what is quite another thing, a 
resurrection of the dead body." 

Ezekiel xxvii. 1-14. 

" The same line of remark," continued Dokeos, " ap- 
plies to the symbolical vision of Ezekiel. In the letter, 
it refers to the restoration and conversion of the Jews, 
as is evident from the conclusion of the prophecy, ver. 
11-14. In the spirit, the prophecy refers to the moral 
resurrection of the soul from a state of bondage under 
sin, banishment from the heavenly Canaan of love and 
light, spiritual exile and degradation, into states* of joy and 
peace, love and life, received from the Lord. It is only 
by the erroneous canon that a spiritual, or a national, 
resurrection must imply a physical resurrection, that some 



14° WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



have been led to imagine that this vision prefigured a 
literal resurrection of dead bodies. But this forces a 
meaning into the passage which, if it had been in the 
Divine Mind, must have been clearly expressed. The 
canon is, also, founded in error ; or, otherwise when it is 
said, ' The Church is the Lamb's bride and wife/ one 
might conclude, with equal reason, that a literal and 
natural marriage must take place between the Lamb and 
the Church, or there could be no reference to such a 
spiritual marriage. Besides, to say that this vision is a 
prefigurement of a literal resurrection, is open to this 
fatal objection — that it will then be confined to the house 
of Israel ! This, again, as with the prophecy through 
Isaiah, would make the prophet deny that the resurrection 
of the dead is universal. The limitation points out the 
true purpose and real meaning of the prophecy ; literally, 
the restoration of Israel after the flesh to Canaan ; and 
spiritually, the resurrection of true Israel, after the spirit, 
into holiness, love, and life." 

"Your reply satisfies me," I said. 

Daniel xii. 2. 

" Yet," I continued, " Daniel says — ' Many of them 
which sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to 
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- 
tempt ' (Dan. xii. 2). Does not this assert a resurrection 
of the material body?" 

" Surely not," rejoined Dokeos; "for this statement, 
also, is limited, while the resurrection is certainly to be 
universal. It is limited by the use of the phrase ' Many 
of them.' Many may mean all; but 6 many of them] of 
necessity, implies selection and exclusion; hence it is 
equivalent to asserting that some shall not rise. This fact 
lends weight to the opinion, held by the most learned 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 141 

I Tews, that the 'awaking' is to be confined to those who 
awake to life ; and that the shame and everlasting con- 
tempt of the others will consist in their not awaking, but, 
on the contrary, in their being destroyed. Hence it 
comes that many have been led by this passage to believe 
that the resurrection will be limited : the Jews restricted 
it to their own nation; and some Christians have imagined 
it would be restricted to all believers. If this passage 
j refers to a future resuscitation of dead bodies, such con- 
l elusions would be as just as they are inevitable. Because 
I the prophecy does not allude to this subject, it warrants 
j no such inference. 

"The words have, however, a literal and political 
signification. The ancient commentators traced in the 
preceding chapter (xi.) the wars between the Greek 
kings of Egypt and Syria, and the death of Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, a type of Antichrist. Judas Mac- 
cabaeus had, a year prior to the last event, repaired and 
beautified the Temple, and founded the Feast of the 
Dedication, a feast which the Lord observed (John x. 22), 
thus recognising its importance, and indeed its divine 
origin. The twelfth chapter promises a deliverance for 
the Jews, and then comes the passage now in question. 
In this connection they that 6 sleep in the dust ' figura- 
tively denote those who had submitted to their masters, 
and had conformed to their pagan customs and worship ; 
they who should awake to life were those who would 
return to, and assist in re-establishing the worship of the 
true God, and who should thus obtain everlasting honour 
in this world and eternal happiness in the next; they who 
should be left to shame and everlasting contempt meant 
those who would refuse to abandon the customs and 
worship of their pagan masters, who would oppose the 
j efforts of their countrymen to obtain deliverance, and 
who thus should incur everlasting disgrace." 

1 



H2 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



" You remind me of the fact that Porphyry, the oppo- 
nent of Christianity, made the exactness of this prophecy 
as referring to these events an argument against its 
authenticity as a prophecy, pretending that it must have 
been written after the event," I remarked. 

"True," replied Dokeos. "In the use of such sym- 
bolry, as prefiguring such events, Daniel used the 
prophetic style; for, as we have seen, both Isaiah and 
Ezekiel had previously employed such symbols to express 
the restoration of the Jews to their own land. There is, 
therefore, little reason to doubt that this is the true literal 
interpretation of the passage." 

" More modern interpreters, however, have striven to 
find in these prophecies," I remarked, " a prediction of 
the still future return of the Jews to their own land." 

" Even if their scheme were correct, which it is not," 
replied Dokeos, " the words in question would then mean 
no more than a figurative description of the respective 
state of those who would unite with the people, and of 
those who would not. Hence in either of these schemes 
of interpretation, the words you have cited do not, and 
cannot refer to the resuscitation of dead bodies from the 
literal dust of the earth ; in which, also, the vast majority 
of dead bodies are not to be found." 

" I follow, and am compelled to agree with you." I 
observed. "But what does the prophecy really mean?" 

Dokeos waved his hand toward Sophos, who replied : 
— "To sleep, and to sleep in the dust are correspon- 
dences frequently employed in the Word, and they signify 
to be in a merely natural and even sensual state; to 
awake to everlasting life is to become aroused from this 
state of mere natural-mindedness and sensuality, and to 
become spiritual, when they inherit and receive eternal 
happiness. On the other hand, to be left to shame and 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 143 



everlasting contempt is indeed to rise into the world of 
spirits, but only that they may pass into the society of 
infernal spirits, and enter into misery, which is their 
eternal state. Thus, the ' sleeping in the dust' does 
not refer to the dead body, but to the man himself, 
regarded as to his internal and spiritual state ; and the 
resurrection does not refer to the dead body, but to the 
man. To a similar effect it is said by Isaiah, ' Awake 
and sing, ye that dwell in the dust;' and also ' Shake 
thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem. 1 
So it is said of the Virgins, that while the Bridegroom 
tarried ' they slept;' and the Apostle likewise exclaims, 
6 Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and 
Christ shall give thee light' (Eph. v. 14). No one so 
misunderstands these w T ords as to imagine that they are 
addressed .to, or spoken of dead bodies sleeping uncon- 
sciously in the dust of the natural earth ; all understand 
them to refer to the internal and spiritual state of men 
who are living ; and in like manner the words of Daniel 
must be understood." 



1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. 1 Thess. iv. 13-17. 

"Your explanation seems to me reasonable," I re- 
marked, " and I am deeply indebted to you. Permit me 
now to ask an explanation of one more difficulty, and it 
is my last on this subject. Paul says, 'Behold, I show 
you a mystery : We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed ' 
(1 Cor. xv. 51, 52); and he says also, in another epistle, 
— 4 1 would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, con- 
cerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even 



144 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



as others which have no hope. For if we believe that 
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep 
in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say by 
the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain 
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them 
which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, 
and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall 
rise first : then we which are alive and remain shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the 
Lord in the air : and so we shall be ever with the Lord ' 
(i Thess. iv. 13-17). Was not, then, the idea of a 
resurrection of the material body in the mind of the 
Apostle?" 

"Our only clue to the idea which was in the mind of 
the Apostle is to be found in the words he has em- 
ployed," rejoined Dokeos. " He speaks of some w T ho 
sleep, and of some who shall be changed : of those who 
'sleep in Jesus,' he says, that 1 God shall bring them with 
Him;' of those who will be 'changed/ he says, that they 
shall be 6 caught up together with them,' whom God will 
bring, in 6 the clouds,' to meet the Lord c in the air;' and 
of both those who shall be changed, and of those who 
sleep in Jesus, he declares, that thenceforth they all shall 
be 'ever with the Lord.' We will consider these two 
classes of statements. 

" Those which sleep in Jesus are the first to be named. 
These are already with the Lord. But to be with the 
Lord they must already have risen: they were already - 
what the Apostle desired to be, ' absent from the body, ■ 
and present with the Lord.' They were to be 'the [ 
spirits of just men made perfect/ already possessing J 
spiritual bodies, and dwelling in the spiritual world. No 1 
subsequent resurrection can be promised to them; for f 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 145 



their resurrection had alreaxly been realized. They were 
1 among the ' raised/ of whom the Saviour spoke ; among 
the Raised' whom John saw. These, Paul says, the 
I Lord shall bring with Him. He does not say that their 
material bodies shall be raised from the earth, in order 
that afterwards they might be brought with the Lord; 
though this is what he needed to have said if he had 
intended to teach such a notion of the resurrection. 
They were already 'made perfect:' to their perfection 
a return to their decayed material bodies would add 
nothing. There is, therefore, no promise of such a 
resuscitation of material bodies made to these. 

"Nor is there any such promise made to those which 
'remain alive' These, the Apostle tells us, shall be so 
changed as that they may be 6 caught up in the air/ and 
ever afterwards ' be with the Lord/ What is the nature 
and extent of this change to be wrought on them ? They 
I must cease to be 'flesh and blood/ according to the 
Apostle's own statement, for 'flesh and blood cannot 
inherit the Kingdom of God.' The slow separation 
between the body and spirit which takes place in the case 
of those who die, should, in the case of those to be thus 
instantaneously changed, be superseded by a separation 
so rapid that it would be effected in ' a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye.' The Apostle could not mean that 
the spiritual body, which had ceased to be 'flesh and 
blood/ could still remain material: the 'earthly house of 
this tabernacle/ the body of flesh, by the being in which 
men are 'absent from the Lord/ must have been 'put 
off' in order that these ascending ones might have 'put 
on' the 'house not made with hands, the building of 
God, eternal in the heavens.' Only in this house 'not 
made with hands ' could men be ' eternal in the heavens/ 
or ' ever with the Lord.' Surely then, by this body which 



i 



1 46 WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 



is to ascend into the clouds, and to fly in the air, the 
Apostle could not mean a sort of spiritual-material body ; 
for who can think of a material body being caught up into 
the clouds, or of its flying in the air, or of its continuing 
to live if by any means it could get there ? 

"There is no necessity for supposing that a thing so 
improbable should ever take place. The Apostle had 
previously taught that man has two bodies ; not that he 
had then the natural, and should have the spiritual, but 
that ' there is a natural body/ and ' there is 9 — not will be 
— 'a spiritual body;' that the natural body is sown, and 
that the spiritual body rises. It is therefore evident that 
those who should be caught up in the air must have put 
off the material body ; and that they should thus ascend 
in a spiritual body ; which, in their case, certainly could 
not be the old, the former natural body resuscitated. 
The idea in the Apostle's mind at the moment, there is 
little reason to doubt, was the translation of Elijah, who 
underwent such an instantaneous change, the elements 
of whose material body were dissipated, and who, like 
Moses, in a spiritual body, ministered to the Lord on 
the Mount of Transfiguration. By the 'change' Paul 
evidently means the preparation for the translation— in 
the prophet's case, represented by his journey and the 
consummating whirlwind — and in their being ' caught up ' 
the translation itself. But the 'change' would involve 
the destruction of the ' flesh and blood ' which ' cannot 
inherit the kingdom,' the putting off of that material 
corruptibility which could not 'inherit incorruption.' 

" Hence neither the statement as to those who are to 
be brought with Him by the Lord, nor the statement as 
to those who should be instantaneously changed, and 
translated, lends any countenance to the notion of a 
resuscitation of the old material body." 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 147 



" But the Apostle also says, ' the dead in Christ shall 
rise first/ " I observed. 

"True," replied Dokeos. "The next question is, there- 
fore, Do these constitute a third class apart, both from 
those whom the Lord shall bring with Him, and from 
those who remain alive at His coming, and who, the 
Apostle says, are to be changed ? " 

" No," I rejoined, " if we suppose that those whom the 
Lord will bring with Him shall animate these bodies which 
were to rise first, and which then should be caught up in 
the air ; and that afterwards those also who were remain- 
ing alive should then be caught up, and so the resurrec- 
tion of the dead, and the equivalent changing of the 
living, should close the scene." 

" But does not this force a meaning into the Apostle's 
words rather than find their true meaning?" asked 
Dokeos. " For what you suggest is certainly not what 
Paul affirms. He says the dead in Christ are to rise 
first ; but he does not say that there are two classes of per- 
sons who are to be caught up into the air. What, then, 
is the force of the word translated first? It is proton- 
proteron. But this word is rendered in many cases 
before, or previously, as in Matt. v. 24, — ' Leave there 
thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first {proton, 
previously) be reconciled to thy brother/ etc. ; in Matt, 
xii. 29, — ' How can one enter into a strong man's house 
and spoil his goods, except he first {proton, previously) 
bind the strong man?' in Mark ix. n, — ' Why say the 
Scribes that Elias must first {proton, previously) come ? ' 
in 2 Thess. ii. 3, — 'That day shall not come except 
there come a falling away first {proton, previously) ; 9 in 1 
Tim. iii. 10, — 6 Let these also first {proton, previously) be 
proved;' and in many other passages. According to 
this, a common usage of language, the word rendered 



143 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



first should more properly be rendered previously: 6 the 
dead in Christ shall rise previously/ or ' shall have 
previously risen.' These are the dead in Christ whom 
the Lord would bring with Him; and who must have 
previously risen, in spiritual bodies, into the spiritual 
world, in order that they might have been with Him, and 
that they might come with Him. 

"Observe also, it is not here said that their dead ! 
bodies shall rise : that is nowhere said. The dead shall j 
rise (pi nekroi, in the masculine gender, and never somata 
in the neuter gender). Unless, therefore, those who 
should have previously risen constitute a third and utterly 
unknown and utterly incomprehensible class, they must 
mean those whom the Lord would bring with Him. But 
if they mean these, it is clear that these had been 
previously raised into the spiritual world; and that they 
were not buried in the earth; nor had they again to rise j 
therefrom. This clause is really a parenthesis, to meet a 
tacit objection, and should be so read: 'For the Lord 
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with | 
the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God 
(and the dead in Christ shall have previously arisen); 
then we which remain alive shall be caught up together 
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.' 
Thus read all the difficulty and confusion vanishes.'" 

" But this view presupposes a gradual, a successive re- 
surrection of the dead — for I must abandon for ever the j 
phrase and the idea of the resurrection of dead bodies," 
I said; "while the statement of Paul in Corinthians 
seems to imply a simultaneous arising, — 'the trumpet | 
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. ' | 
I give up the resuscitation of dead bodies ; but I am not 
clear how a successive resurrection, taking place genera- 
tion by generation, can be harmonized with the Apostle's 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 149 



evident idea of a simultaneous resurrection, consequent on 
the sounding of the trumpet." 

"The point is important, and the argument is fairly 
urged," replied Dokeos. " But you must perceive that 
if you relinquish the idea of the resuscitation of dead 
bodies, and believe that those who had died were with 
the Lord, you really admit that they had risen, and there- 
fore could not expect an additional resurrection ! All 
difficulties vanish so soon as the truth, which is ever con- 
sistent, is seen. If, then, the truth is that, as staled in 
Thessalonians, ' the dead in Christ had previously risen/ 
and the Apostle is a consistent teacher of truth, these 
words now under consideration cannot contradict the 
truth. Do they, however, teach that the resurrection is a 
sudden and simultaneous one ? 

" Paul's -statement to the Thessalonians, ' I say this by 
the word of the Lord/ does not mean that the Lord had 
revealed this specially and personally to him ; but that 
he was quoting the words of the Saviour, which you will 
find in Matthew: 'They shall see the Son of Man coming 
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; 
and He shall send His angel with a great soimd of a 
trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from* the four 
winds, from one end of heaven to the other ' (Matt. xxiv. 
30, 31). Here, then, was Paul's authority for the i Lord's 
coming in the clouds ; ' for the ' sound of the trumpet ; ' 
and for the resurrection of the dead, and the transla- 
tion of the living. But in the Lord's own words, the 
gathering of the 6 elect ' was to be effected in heaven, or 
rather in 'the heavens] (a7r' aKpwv ovpavuv ews aKpwv 
avrcov, ap akron ouranon eos akron autdii). Nothing was 
said by the Lord of a simultaneous resurrection ; and as 
the Apostle derived his doctrine from the Lord's words, 
which also he partially quotes, he cannot intend a simul- 



150 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



taneous resurrection. The gathering of the elect from 
one end of the heavens to the other is the Lord's state- 
ment, but if the elect were in the heavens they must have 
already risen, and have risen successively as they died ; 
hence neither in the Lord's words, nor in Paul's part 
quotation and part paraphrase of those words, is the 
notion taught of a resurrection of dead material bodies, 
or of a simultaneous resurrection of the spiritual bodies 
of the elect ! Further, while we remember the Lord's 
own phrase in this prediction, the elect, the angels 6 shall 
gather the elect] can it surprise us that Paul should re- 
strict in both epistles the resurrection and translation to 
those alone who were believers, or the ' elect ' f " 

" Your explanation is even luminous, Dokeos," I 
replied. " Paul certainly could not mean more than the 
Saviour intended ; nor can his words contain more than 
is contained in the Lord's words, which, as you say, 
he partly quoted, and partly paraphrased." 

The Apostles' Idea of the Time of the Second 
Coming. 

" But," I continued, " Paul seems to have anticipated 
the Lord's Second Advent to take place in his day." 

"There is no reason to doubt that he, in common 
with the other Apostles, did anticipate such an imme- 
diate Second Coming, or that he expected the Second 
Advent to be a personal coming of the Lord in the natural 
clouds. The lapse of time since the days of the Apostles 
has proved that the one opinion was a misapprehension. 
But the same cause which led to the one misapprehension 
led also to the other ; it was understanding the Lord's 
predictions, couched in the prophetic language of sym- 
bolry, according to the mere letter, as though the sym- 



WILL THE NA TURAL BOD V RISE ? 151 



bols had been scientific statements as to what should 
absolutely take place. In doing this, he repeated the 
error of the Scribes and Pharisees, who rejected the 
Saviour because He did not fulfil the expectations which 
they had derived from their literal interpretation of the 
prophecies concerning Him. 

" In this literal manner Paul, and the other Apostles, 
understood such statements as 'This generation shall 
not pass till all these things be fulfilled ' (Matt. xxiv. 34) ; 
' There be some standing here which shall not taste of 
death till they see the Son of Man coming in His king- 
dom' (Matt. xvi. 28); and the statement concerning 
John, 6 If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee ?' (John xxi. 23). Peter and the Apostles were cer- 
tainly mistaken as to the true meaning of the last-cited 
passage ; and John, writing the Gospel towards the close 
of his life, notices and comments upon the misapprehen- 
sion. 

" The Apostles certainly did expect an immediate 
coming of the Lord. In addition to ' We which remain 
alive] and 'we shall be changed,' Paul says, 'The Lord 
is at hand' (Phil. iv. 5); 'Exhorting one another; so 
much the more as you see the day approaching. , . . For 
yet a little while He that shall come will come, and will 
not tarry '' (Heb. x. 25, 37); 'Now it is high time to 
awake out of sleep : the night is far spent ; the day is at 
hand' (Rom. xiii. 12). Peter also says, ' To Him who is 
ready to judge the quick and the dead. . . . The end of 
all things is at hand' (1 Pet. iv. 5). James likewise says, 
'The coming of the Lord draweth nigh: behold the 
Judge standeth at the door' (James v. 8, 9). Even John 
says, 'Little children, it is the last time' (1 John ii. 18). 
So Jude declares that then was being fulfilled the pro- 
phecy that 'there should be mockers in the last ti?ne' 



1 5 2 WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 

(Jude 24). Many other similar statements can be found 
in the Apostolic writings." 

"But how can you reconcile this evident misappre- 
hension with their inspiration ? " I asked. 

Sophos answered me : " The Apostles were not in- 
spired in the same sense and way as were the prophets 
and evangelists, who wrote the very words of God. The 
Apostles wrote, as Peter said of Paul, ' according to the 
wisdom given ' unto them. It is needless to prove this, 
for the Church admits it, as, unhappily, it claims no higher 
inspiration for the prophets and evangelists. The Apostles 
were not omniscient ; the Lord expressly declared that it 
was not for them 6 to know the times or the seasons ' 
(Acts i. 7); and that ' of that day and hour knoweth no 
man, no, nor the angels which are in heaven ' (Mark viii 
32). What was necessary in order to qualify them for 
preaching the Gospel, and for proclaiming the first ad- 
vent, was revealed to them : they needed no more, and 
no more was given. " 

" This thought explains much which otherwise is in- 
explicable," I said. " But, Sophos, it will prove most 
difficult of belief to many, to whom such a limitation of 
apostolic knowledge will appear almost blasphemous ! " 

" We have to do with what is true, and not merely 
with what will be believed," rejoined Sophos. "I furnish 
you with an explanation of the misapprehension, which 
ought to be welcomed, and which certainly ought not to 
be regarded as blasphemous." 

"Sophos, I am properly rebuked," I replied. "It is 
mine now to listen, and afterwards it will be mine to 
meditate, and conclude as to the truth of your teachings. 
Dokeos, proceed." 



WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 153 



Resurrection in the Light of Reason. 

" I have shown you, then," resumed Dokeos, " that 
the resuscitation of the material body is not taught in the 
Scriptures ; that the resurrection which the Word teaches 
is of the spiritual body ; that this resurrection is immedi- 

jj ately after death, and is continually going on ; and that 
when once the natural body is cast off, it will never be 
resumed. Need I show you that this erroneous notion, 
the future resurrection of the material body, is utterly 
unreasonable, and so full of practical difficulties as to 
deserve to be styled impossible ? " 

" No, Dokeos," I replied ; " I have long felt the force, 
and wondered at the number, of the arguments to which 
the idea lies exposed on the side of philosophy. The 
resurrection of the material body is not essential to the 
continued existence, or to the immortality of man ; for 

! after death each must continue to live. There are no 
natural analogies which could suggest or illustrate the 
idea; for in nature we everywhere see succession, and 
nowhere a material resurrection. Each man has had 
several bodies, every particle of which he has successively 
thrown off ; for the substance of every organ in the body 
is continually being renewed. Physiologists tell us that 
such a renewal of every part of the body takes place, at 
the furthest, every seven years. All this substance once 
formed as truly a part of the man as the last body he pos- 
sessed. If, then, his material body is to be raised, it 
might well be asked, Which body? If it is said the last, 
that was the most feeble and decrepit of all ; if it is said 
the first, that was but a new-born babe. But the mate- 
rial substances temporarily combined in his body succes- 
sively belong to many bodies ; they have been taken into 
the body, assimilated by it, decayed in it, excreted by it, 



154 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 



to re-enter into vegetable forms of life, which, in their 
turn, are consumed by animals, and which, in their turn, 
are eaten by other human beings ; and thus the endless 
circle of transformation goes ceaselessly on. If the re- 
surrection were of material bodies, to which of the many 
bodies of which it once formed part would each particle 
of matter belong ? Some have been burned, some de- 
voured — all have become remingled with the elements- 
how shall they be regathered ? If the resurrection body 
is to be in any sense the body which the man once pos- 
sessed, there must be in each a something which should 
constitute the basis of the identity of each body — a some- 
thing which was not interchangeable, as well as not cap- 
able of being destroyed. What is that something, and 
where is it? The imaginary bone Luz, of the Pharisees, 
was invented as an expedient to meet this difficulty ; but 
its existence is a supposition which no anatomist would 
sanction. I had to compel reason to submit to faith in 
this matter, thinking that the doctrine was revealed, and 
to content myself with the thought that nothing was im- 
possible to God. I had to take refuge in ' miracle ? to 
explain the otherwise unreasonable." 

" The motive was praiseworthy," said Sophos, " but the 
self-abnegation was an unnecessary sacrifice. Although 
the province of faith transcends that of reason, it does 
not contradict reason. When reason can discern that an 
article of faith involves belief in a contradiction, that article 
of faith becomes forthwith unreasonable, and should be 
abandoned by reasonable men. Reason was given to 
save man from believing in contradictory propositions : 
faith was given to lift men beyond the limits of what 
reason without faith could ever ascertain or understand. 
It is only as reasoning beings that we can exercise or 
even possess faith ; and they are false to the noblest 



WILL THE NA TURAL BOD Y RISE f 155 



faculty of their manhood who know that their faith is 
contrary to their reasonable perceptions, and still cling, 
despite their reason, to their faith. The notion that 
reason is to be kept in subjection to faith locks up 
the Church ; for what can open it save an understanding 
enlightened by the Lord ? 17 

" The distinction is valuable, Sophos," I observed, 
" and shall be treasured. Faith must supplement reason, 
but should never contradict it" 

"Beyond the arguments you have urged," added 
Dokeos, " there are others worthy of being remembered. 
If the same body is to be raised, there would be giants 
and dwarfs at the resurrection ; there would also be mal- 
formed, defective bodies, such as may be seen every 
day in the world; white, black, yellow, and copper- 
coloured races such as now exist; the ugly, the maimed 
and disfigured, such as are every day born, and in which 
human spirits are imprisoned ; for if each is to have ' the 
same body' that he or she had in the natural world, all 
the differences which characterized the purer body will 
again be needed to characterize 1 the same body' when 
each spirit resumes it. 

" If, again, we regard the subject from the spiritual 
side, the conclusion is similarly opposed to the notion of 
such a resuscitation of the material body. The resusci- 
tation of the body is not necessary to mutual recognition 
in the spiritual world. Immediately after Peter's eyes 
were opened, on the Mount of Transfiguration, he knew 
Moses and Elias, without any resuscitation of the 
material body. The rich man in the Parable also recog- 
nised Lazarus, and knew Abraham. Nor is it necessary 
for the sake of rewards and punishments. It is not the 
material body that is conscious of pain or pleasure, but 
the man's mind in the body. The spiritual body is far 



156 WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE ? 



more acutely sensitive than man is, while incrusted with 
material substance. Hence the bliss of rewards or the 
anguish of punishment in the spiritual world are far 
greater, and more keenly felt, than could be possible to a 
material organization. And, finally, if we say that the 
resurrection-body is to be material, then the fire of the 
lake must likewise be material, and the rewards of heaven 
must also be suited to such a risen material body, and 
thus we should materialize the heavens, the hells, and all 
the spiritual world ! Surely the materialism of your times 
could not ask for a more carnal and natural-minded view 
than this ! " 

"But why, Sophos," I asked, "have views so intrinsi- 
cally materialistic been permitted by the Head of the 
Church to remain in His Church?" 

" Foregleams of the truth have almost in all ages been 
given to the best, purest, and wisest men. These have 
often led such writers or speakers into what were manifest 
contradictions of their admitted doctrinal teachings. It 
would not be difficult to collect from the writings and 
teachings of such men most convincing testimonies to the 
truth. But the sanction of authority has been given by 
Councils and Bishops to the lower and more degraded 
view, which, because it was more nearly on the level of 
ordinary minds, was the more readily and willingly re- 
ceived by ordinary thinkers. The opinion has been 
permitted to prevail because the natural man supposes, 
and has supposed, that it is the body alone which lives ; 
unless, therefore, he believed that the body was again to 
receive life he would have altogether denied the resurrec- 
tion. Though this error has been permitted, and many 
follies have been uttered as to what has been termed 
6 the disembodied spirit,' yet the Divine Mercy has kept 
alive in the hearts of the faithful a belief that after death 
men continue to live, that friends recognise their friends, 



WILL THE NATURAL BODY RISE? 157 

I that all are judged, that the wicked are sent away to hell, 
and that the good go to heaven ; and many have believed 
that by saying masses for the dead they can be removed 
from a place of purificatory punishment and be elevated 
to heaven. In this confused manner belief in the truth 
has been preserved, notwithstanding the doctrinal errors 
which have at the same time prevailed. Thousands who 
internally believe the truth will gladly receive the tidings 
which will relieve them from the mental confusion which 
the erroneous doctrine has produced. 

" As time advances, the number of those who will be 
capable of perceiving the distinctions between what is 
natural or material and what is spiritual will increase : 
their faith will be an enlightened faith ; their reason will 
be a believing intelligence. The Word of God will also 
be seen by them to expand in meaning as their minds 
increase in intelligence : they will outgrow many errone- 
ous, because so restricted, opinions of their forefathers ; 
and rejoicing in their new-found mental liberty and 
power, they will strive to enter intellectually into the 
mysteries of faith. You need not fear the ultimate 
result, though you may possibly feel dismayed at some of 
the symptoms which will attend this intellectual develop- 
ment. The Christian religion is true, although the inter- 
pretations thereof given by one age may be quite un- 
suited to the intellectual condition of the succeeding age. 
But to outgrow former interpretations is so far from 
outgrowing the Christian religion, that only by such an 
outgrowing of old interpretations can genuine faith in. 
Christianity become rooted in the minds and hearts and 
lives of men. These words are words of wisdom, my 
friend, and you will do well to remember them." 

" I will not only remember, but I will meditate upon 
and teach them," I exclaimed ; " for they seem to me to 
be the very truth." 



CHAPTER VI. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 

" ^jSp'OW," said Dokeos, "we are in, a position to 
converse on one of your earliest questions — 

■■I < What do the angels do ? 

" Permit me a moment," I observed. " I perceive 
that there is a system of spiritual philosophy in what 
you have been endeavouring to teach me, in which each 
separate principle depends on that which precedes it. 
Is it not so ?" 

" It is so," replied Sophos. " And when you remem- 
ber what we have said, — for you will remember, inasmuch 
as you love the truth, and that which enters into the love 
is written in the heart and cannot be forgotten, — and 
when you endeavour to arrange what you have heard 
into an orderly series — for such an arrangement is the 
basis of all right understanding — you will see the connec- 
tion and dependence of the various principles which the 
system comprehends ; and you will then be able to de- 
cide whether or not it is true." 

u You certainly take great pains to teach me," I re- 
marked. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 159 



" No labour is too great to teach any one mind truths 
which it is important he should know," rejoined Sophos. 
" Besides, every man owes this debt to truth, to endea- 
vour to communicate to others the particular truths 
which he has been enabled to learn. In such ministra- 
tions of use the angels delight ; for, loving others better 
than they love themselves, they would that all should 
come to the knowledge of truth ; and would think 
no labour too great by which this end could be at- 
tained." 

"You bring me back to the point," I said. "Have, 
then, the angels employments?" 

Have the Angels Employments? 

" God," replied Dokeos, " is the infinite Economist. 
He • has made nothing without an adequate purpose, 
definite powers, and specific use. He has made nothing 
in vain. To whomsoever He has given any faculty, He 
has thereby indicated the necessity of employing the 
faculty ; He has further intimated a promise of an oppor- 
tunity for its employment ; and has likewise implied that 
the use which can result from the employment of the 
special faculty possessed by any one person is essential 
to the perfection of all. God-given faculties therefore 
imply uses ; powers mean functions ; abilities indicate 
duties. 

"The gift of intellect implies the exercise of that 
intellect, and also the existence of subjects on which it 
may be exercised. The gift of affection implies the 
exercise of affection, and the existence of objects of love. 
Men on earth are mercifully endowed with intelligence, 
affection, and operative abilities : the manifest intention 
in the endowment is that men should employ their 



i6o WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



intelligence to increasingly learn and understand truth ; 
their affections to desire and love what is good ; their 
operative abilities to execute the desires of their wills. 

"Angels are men more richly and variously endowed 
than their congeners on earth. Their superior endow- 
ments only the more clearly indicate definite uses. 
Their greater intelligence enables them to learn more 
rapidly, more accurately, and more comprehensively the 
truth, which is inexhaustible because it is infinite. Their 
more intense affectional natures, while they lift them into 
being more fully c likenesses of God,' the Infinitely loving, ; 
indicate that they must love more deeply and more 
variously than can men. Their grander executive abili- : 
ties fit them for nobler achievements, greater variety of 
uses, more beneficial and more perfect work. It must be 
intended that angels shall exercise the gifts which they 
have received from the Lord ; and in their case, as in 
the case of man on earth, faculties imply uses, powers 
mean functions, and abilities point to work. 

" The more fully a man receives the Spirit of God the 
more is his usefulness increased. It deepens, broadens, 
and sharpens his intelligence ; it enlarges his sympathies 
and elevates his love ; it enhances the sweetness, tender- 
ness, gentleness, loyalty and the activity of all the self- - 
sacrificing emotions ; it exalts the labours of men, ever 
inspiring new desires to serve, ever prompting to new 
deeds of service. The soul that loves must labour to be 
of use to the objects of its love. The only possible way 
in which a soul can show that it truly loves God is by 
manifesting love to man. Life in heaven is a richer and 
fuller reception of the Divine Spirit than men on earth b 
are capable of obtaining : angels, therefore, will only be 
mightier 'fellow-workers together with God' for the pro- 
motion of every Divine purpose. God is the great Master , 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 161 



Worker, and it must be the joy of the angels to become 
the instruments of His providence, under-workers ' doing 
His pleasure,' the ministers of His will. The Saviour 
said, 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work; 7 thus 
setting the seal of His Divine authority on the nobleness 
and dignity of work." 

" All this I am prepared to admit, Dokeos," I observed. 
" I cannot conceive of an idle angel; I cannot associate 
the ideas of idleness and heaven. Yet worship is work ; 
the contemplation of the Divine perfections is an em- 
ployment of intellect. J, 

" Say rather that true work is worship," rejoined Sophos. 
" It is to be much deplored that the notions of heaven 
which are usually entertained have come through the 
vitiated channels of the rightly styled 'dark ages.' The 
follies of monasticism have done much to pervert and 
injure human ideas on subjects connected with angelic 
life. The notion that true worship can be most fittingly 
expressed by continual singing and praying ; that the 
contemplative life is the highest ideal of life ; that the 
ordinary duties of daily life are incompatible with the 
nobler type of existence; that the celibate state is for 
both man and woman the most acceptable and purest 
condition ; that marriage has something in it which is 
unclean in the sight of God, and which should be avoided 
by man : — such notions, which infect the ordinary ideas 
of believers as to heaven, have been fostered by monas- 
ticism, and are mistakes and follies. They have led many 
to believe that angels were all alike ; that the chief, if not 
the only occupation of immense numbers of them con- 
sists in singing, playing on golden harps, and prayer ; 
| that all the inhabitants of heaven are sexless and celibate ; 
j that friendship is the only love known among the saved ; 
; and that the contemplation of the Divine perfections 

L 



1 62 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 

and glory is almost the only exercise provided for angelic 
intelligence." I 

" Perhaps," I observed, " the existence of such ideas ? 
originated monasticism, rather than that monasticism I 
originated such ideas." I j 

"True," rejoined Sophos. "But monasticism de- 
veloped such notions into a system. It also founded I 
institutions whereby they might be carried into practical ■ 4 
effect. It thus formulated superstition, and lent the 
weight of the authority of bishops and abbots to notions < I 
derogatory to God, because essentially destructive of all I 
the God-implanted characteristics of the human soul." 

" Do you affirm, then, that angels have sex, and that 
there are marriages in heaven?" I asked. 

" Yes," replied Sophos. " Angels are men and women i 
between whom married love is not only possible, buti 
also the highest, purest, and most prolific of affections.^ 
But on this point we shall converse more fully presently.: 
Dokeos has not yet completed his general argument." ? 

" The perfection of society on earth," resumed Dokeos, < 
" consists in the endless variety of genius possessed by 
its various members. Society would certainly not be 
more perfect if all men possessed the same tastes, apti- 
tudes, and idiosyncrasies. In whatever nation the greatest 
variety of genius is to be found, there the greatest variety 
of uses are performed, each perfecting the processes by 
which he works, each continually making new discoveries 
and inventions, and each becoming increasingly dexterous 
in administering to the welfare of all. God has provided 
for such a diversity. He has not made any two souls 
alike in character or aptitude. By this almost endlessb 
diversity of intellectual gifts, He has provided for an 
equal diversity of service. All this variety of gifts is i 
good : it adds to the completeness of mankind. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 163 

" But if this almost endless variety of character, fitting 
men for a corresponding variety of uses, be a good thing, 
s this good thing will not be obliterated by the transit of 
the human soul from the natural into the spiritual world. 
Death does not destroy anything which was in the soul, 
or which belonged to it : all that death does is to separate 
} the spirit from its former covering of flesh. Everything 
[ that previously pertained to the soul will still be in it — 
e aptitudes, tastes, faculties, and the specific character 
1 which caused each man to be himself, and different from 
[j all others. 

" Do you not see, then, that, if this variety of aptitudes 
is a good thing ; if it necessarily implies a corresponding 
variety of uses ; and if this variety of faculties is taken by 
i the souls of men into the spiritual world, it must likewise 
imply a corresponding variety of uses in that world ? 
Consequently, uses corresponding to those of earth must 
exist and be possible to the souls of men in the spiritual 
world. Inasmuch as the number of the spirits of men in 
the spiritual world is far greater than the number of any 
[ nation or generation, seeing that all the spirits of all men 
> who have ever lived are there, the variety of faculties, 
i and of uses indicated in the gift of those faculties, must 
i be beyond calculation greater than those which are visible 
I on earth." 

" It is only reasonable to suppose this to be the case," 
i5 I replied. 

" Hence, you may think of the wise and good of earth, 
): who have passed into their eternal homes in the heavens, 
I and ask, — ' Will that same angelic use which would 
? absorb and satisfy the whole soul of a Newton equally 
1 absorb and satisfy the soul of a Mendelssohn ?' Can 
! you conceive of two such minds as Milton and Faraday 
deriving an equal amount of happiness from the study of 



1 64 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



the same angelic theme, and pursued in exactly the same 
manner ? Can you think that all who were good among ; 
the philosophers of Egypt, the poets and artists of Greece, 
the legislators of Rome, the mystics of India, the temple- r 
builders of Central America, the mechanics of modern 
times, and the literati of the far-off future, could alike find 
their fulness of blessedness in the same activity, revolving 1 
in the same routine, investigating the same problems, ' 
wrought out in the same methods, and by the use of the j 
same calculus ? The poets, painters, sculptors, architects, 
musicians, scientists, philosophers, mechanicians, and ta 
legislators of the earth, have all possessed God-given 
faculties, fitting them for the performance of their high, 1 
and, if rightly -regarded, even holy uses among men : 
death has obliterated nothing of their aptitudes, intellec- : 
tual tastes, and genius : what they had and were as men * 
they have taken with them into the spiritual world: no- 1 
thing of theirs has perished save the material body, by 
means of which they lived and wrought in the natural 
world : their heavenly state, consequently, must furnish * 
to them scope for the orderly exercise of their special : 
characteristics, in which exercise alone they could find 
their true and individual joy !" 

"Such an idea, though if it were admitted, would 
revolutionize all our notions of heaven, seems at least 
reasonable," I remarked. 

" Ordinary notions about heaven sorely need to be 
revolutionized," rejoined Dokeos. "If heaven were a 
temple, there must still be diversities of use. Were it a 
vast church, there must needs be a variety of officials. 
Were it a feast, difference of place and of service would 
still be inevitable. Heaven is a perfect state of human ; 
society ; and its perfection consists in the diversity of the 
reception by its inhabitants of life, love, and intelligence 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 165 



from the Lord ; and in the variety of uses which the 
angels are thus fitted to perform. Life in heaven is full 
and complete. Fulness of life, however, must mean 
ample scope for the exercise of all orderly and God-given 
faculties; subjects provided for the exercise of all intel- 
lectual powers ; objects supplied for every orderly affection ; 
and active uses subserving the general good, in the per- 
formance of which each angel may find his fulness of 
active and conscious joy." 

" But this is to say that heaven is only a more beauti- 
ful, orderly, and perfect earth !" I remarked. " It is also 
saying that there is a definite ratio of proportion between 
our earthly life and our life hereafter." 

" And if the earth-life is, in any true sense, a prepara- 
tion for our heaven-life, must there not exist such a pro- 
portion between the two ? " replied Dokeos. " The love 
of the Lord possible to a man on earth is surely a pre- 
paration for his fuller love of the Lord in heaven. The 
joys which such a love inspires must surely be a prepa- 
ration, as well as a foretaste, of the joys to be inspired by 
this love in heaven. Delight in charity, in beneficence, 
in ministration and service, are all such foretastes of 
heavenly delights. The sweet and pure pleasures derived 
from the contemplation of the beautiful, from new per- 
ceptions of truth, from new achievements of art, from 
new discoveries in science, are surely holy and heavenly ; 
they are the foregleams and fore-glimpses on earth of 
what awaits the soul in fulness in the heavens of God. 
So the wisdom of earth is kindred in kind though inferior 
in degree to that which prevails in heaven. So the 
music of earth is linked to the music of heaven by the 
bonds of an indissoluble affinity. There is no science 
which has not a heavenward as well as an earthward 
side. Nothing was ever wrought out into fixed sub- 



1 66 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



sistence on earth which did not first exist in the spiritual 
world that is in man, a conception of his mind, an object 
of perception and apprehension, though not yet em- 
bodied and ultimated as an object of sense. 

"Do you object that such ideas are too human, re- 
presenting that world as bearing too close a resemblance 
to this ? I answer : It cannot be too human, when we 
remember that the inhabitants of that world are men; 
that they have taken with them into that world all 
the mental and emotional characteristics, and all the 
idiosyncrasies and specialties of taste and genius which 
they possessed in the natural world. I object to all 
other representations of heaven that they are too un- 
human ; and utterly irrational, because so contrary to 
everything which we have known and felt as real and 
individual men. We stand on solid ground only so long 
as we remember that angels are men ; spiritual, exalted, 
holy, far more perfect than earth's wisest, purest, and 
mightiest, yet still men ! We reason from an impreg- 
nable basis so long as we remember that the earth-life 
was intended to be a real preparation for life in heaven. 
Abolish the fixity and grossness of matter, the restric- 
tions of space and time, the evil affections as well as the 
sins to which they give rise, the squalor and misery, the 
penury and filth, the painful drudgery and degrading toil 
of the earth-life ; supply to executive ability a substance 
as plastic as 'the stuff that dreams are made of,' on 
which the wills of the angels can operate directly, and 
almost without manual exertion ; exalt a million-fold the 
charities, amenities, and graces of existence ; multiply 
endlessly the love and tenderness, the sweetness and 
blessedness, the judgment and skill, the insight and 
dexterity of the inhabitants ; make their every purpose 
holy with the spirit of self-sacrifice, and every scene 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 



167 



j around them beautiful, because the corresponding out- 
! growth of their affections and thoughts, and then you 
can form to yourself a faint and far-off conception of 
I what is meant by life in heaven ! " 

Heavenly Rest. 

" But does not such a conception of heaven banish the 
idea of rest ? " I asked. 

Sophos answered me. " The rest of heaven surely 
does not mean the rest of idleness ! Spiritual rest is 
relief from temptation ; from the pain and weariness of 
the struggles of mortality against evil ; from the sorrows 
inseparable from needing to cultivate in the soil of the 
soul all heavenly graces and charities. The real nature 
of the curse was not the necessity of working — God is 
the great Worker ! It was the toil of contrariety and 
constraint, having continually to watch against and to 
resist the fatal tendency in the soul to revert to the 
wilderness condition. Before the fall, Adam had 4 to 
keep the garden and dress it;' and the labour only 
added to his pleasures. The earth mentioned in the 
curse was man's natural mind, and the briers and thorns 
were the evils and falses which so speedily overran it. 
The eradication of these by temptation-conflicts and 
victory is man's painful duty. In heaven, however, there 
shall be rest from the labour of having to resist, over- 
come, and destroy such noxious principles. The angels 
are relieved from all contrariety, and they are con- 
sequently relieved from the danger of falling into evil : 
they have the unalterable peace of a rest which fadeth 
not away." 

"Activity," added Dokeos, "is the sign of life : in- 
activity is synonymous with death. The arTectional act 



1 68 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO t 



of loving is delightful ; the doing a service to those whom 1 

we love is joy-inspiring ; to increase in knowledge by 1 
active study is blissful ; to communicate to another the 
knowledges we have acquired is blessedness ; to work | 
out into ultimate forms the idea with which the soul has 

been charmed, as well as filled, is to realize, to some jj 

slight extent, the joy of creating — a joy which in its \ 

fulness enters into the perfectness of the Divine happi- f ; 

ness. To rest from all activity would be to cease to jj 

love, which is the activity of the affections ; to cease to j 

think, which is the activity of the intellect; to cease to i; 

work, which is the activity of the executive powers. But \ 

such a cessation of activity, if total, would be a ceasing to \ 

live; for life is the orderly activity of the living form. - 
Such a loveless, thoughtless, actionless state would be 

torpor, and not heaven. Angels, consequently, love, jj 

think, and work. God is the infinite activity and there- j< 

fore the infinite joy : all who derive their life from Him p 

can only find their measure of happiness in the full \ 

exercise of their finite activities, in the discovery of their \ 

most congenial use, and in the doing of it. Heavenly jj 

employments, therefore, must occupy angelic faculties; !i 

and for angels to cease to be operative would be for them i 

to cease to enjoy." \\ 

"You have said enough to convince me of the iij 

reasonableness of the general principle, Dokeos," I \ 

rejoined. " Let us come to particulars. What do angels \ 

do?" , i 

" Angelic uses," replied Dokeos, "may be grouped > 

into three great classes : uses performed for men on r 

earth; those performed for spirits in the World of Spirits; \ 

and those which are performed in the heavens. Your \ 

early questions referred to the uses performed for men, \ 
and, if you please, we will commence with these : — 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 169 

1 § I. WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO FOR MEN ? 

" Explore your own memory and tell us what you find 
' there on this subject." 

" Of course," I answered, " I have believed, in a vague 
way, that angels are, as the Apostle says, ministering 
spirits, and that they minister to all who are the heirs of 
salvation. Admitting, as I must, that evil thoughts are 
j insinuated into the mind by wicked spirits, I am con- 
j strained to credit angels with equal activity and in the 
! contrary direction ; and thus to believe that they infuse 
i into the mind true thoughts, and excite in the will good 
affections and desires. 

" In the Scriptures, however, I find many remarkable 
instances of additional and personal ministration, such as 
that of the three angels who appeared to Abraham in the 
plain of Mamre, and one of whom spake as God, and 
was addressed as God; and two of whom afterwards 
went to Sodom, to the house of Lot (Gen. xviii., xix.). 
When Hagar, with her son Ishmael, was dismissed from 
Abraham's tents, an angel saved her from despair, and 
her child from death (Gen. xxi. 17). When Abraham 
commissioned his servant to bring for Isaac a wife from 
among his own people, he rehearsed the Divine promises 
made to him, and declared that 'the Lord God shall 
send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife 
unto my son' (Gen. xxiv. 7). By the ministry of angels 
the Lord led Jacob, who beheld them in his vision of the 
ladder reaching between earth and heaven, ascending 
and descending thereon. Jacob's name was changed to 
Israel after his wrestling all night with an angel. When 
Jacob blessed his grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim, he 
said, 'The angel who redeemed me from all evil bless 
the lads' (Gen. xlviii. 16). 



170 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 



" I remember also that by the ministry and guardian- 
ship of angels, the Lord led the Israelites in their wan- £ 
derings : ' Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep 
thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which. ; 
I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice ; It 
provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgres- 
sions ; for My name is in him. But if indeed thou shalt jf 
obey his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an r 
enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine j 
adversaries. For Mine angel shall go before thee' (Exod. 
xxiii. 20-22). When the Israelites had sinned by worship- j;j 
ping the golden calf set up by Aaron, the Lord also said, ~ 
' Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out 
of My book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto 1 
the place of which I have spoken unto thee ; behold q 
Mine angel shall go before thee ' (Exod. xxxii. 34). So ■ 
again we read, ' I will send an angel before thee, and I { 
will drive out the Canaanite/ and the other nations, from 
the land (Exod. xxxiii. 2). Accordingly, when the Israel- 
ites needed to declare their history and intentions to the p 
descendants of Esau, the Edomites, they said, £ And when ji 
we cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice, and sent an 
angel and brought us out of Egypt ' (Numb. xx. 16). This \\ 
special method of God's operation must, indeed, have 
been uniform in the case of Israel, for Stephen declared |j 
that they ' received the law by the ministration of angels' \\ 
(Acts vii. 55). 

" I remember, also, that an angel appeared to Joshua at 
the siege of Jericho, who styled himself ' the Captain or 
Prince of the Lord's host,' the leader of the invisible , 
army who fought on the side of the Israelites (Josh. v. |j 
19-21). So an angel appeared to rebuke Israel at Bo- j[ 
chim (Judg. ii. 1-5) ; another angel appeared to Joash, the 
father of Gideon (Judg. vi. 1 1-22); another angel appeared 1 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 171 

I to Manoah, the father of Samson (Judg. xiii. 3-20) ; another 
appeared to David at the threshing-floor of Araunah the 
I Jebusite, where the pestilence that had wasted the king- 
1 dom was stayed (2 Sam. xxiv. 16); another went forth 
j and slew the hosts of Sennacherib (Isa. xxxvi. 36) ; an- 
! other appeared with the three Hebrew brethren in the 
I furnace of fire, and was seen and described by Nebu- 
| chadnezzar as ' a son of the Gods' (Dan. hi. 25). 
1 " I remember, likewise, how important a part they 
I performed in the instruction, protection, and guidance of 
I the prophets Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah, 
j Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah. Daniel especially names 
'. two — ' Michael, one of the chief Princes/ and Gabriel. 
He also suggests, in a mysterious but very remarkable 
passage, that there are tutelary angels presiding over the 
affairs of nations, as well as guardian or ministering an- 
gels, protecting or ministering to individuals. He writes 
that Gabriel said, 4 Fear not, Daniel ; for, from the first 
day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to 
chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, 
and I am come for thy words. But the Prince of Persia 
withstood me one-and-twenty days : but lo ! Michael, one of 
the chief Princes, came to help me, and I remained there 
with the kings of Persia. . . . Now will I return to fight 
with the Prince of Persia ; and, when I am gone forth, lo, 
the Prince of Grecia shall come, . . . and there is none 
that holdeth with me in these things but Michael, your 
Prince' (Dan. x. 12, 13, 20, 21). 

"I remember, further, that the employment of this 
agency was not restricted to Old Testament times. The 
birth of the Baptist was foretold by the Angel Gabriel to 
Zacharias in the temple, and the birth of the Saviour was 
foretold by the same angel to Mary in Nazareth (Luke i. 
19, 26). Angels instructed Joseph as to the purity of 



172 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



his espoused wife, warned him of the dangers which beset 
the young Child, announced to him the death of Herod, 
and taught him to turn aside into Nazareth (Matt. i. 20 ; 
ii. 13, 19, 22). Angels announced to the shepherds who 
were watching their flocks the birth of the Saviour, and 
a multitude of diem sung their new song (Luke ii. 9-15). 
Angels ministered unto the Saviour after the temptation 
in the wilderness (Matt. iv. 11) ; ' strengthened Him' 
after the agony of Gethsemane (Luke xxii. 43) ; and more 
than ' twelve legions ' of them would have come at His 
call (Matt. xxvi. 53). Angels sat in the tomb from which 
Jesus had risen (John xx. 12); and conversed with the 
disciples after He had ascended (Acts i. 10). An angel 
was sent to rescue Peter and John from the prison (Acts 
v. 19); to Philip the Deacon, to guide him to the Ethio- 
pian Eunuch of Queen Candace (Acts viii. 26); to the 
Centurion Cornelius, to direct him to Peter (Acts x. 
7-22) ; to deliver Peter a second time from prison (Acts 
xii. 8); and to Paul when about to be shipwrecked (Acts 
xxvii. 23). 

" Of course, also, the whole of the Apocalypse, from 
beginning to end, is built up on the idea of angelic minis- 
tration, mediation, and agency, both in regard to teaching 
the Apostle what was shortly to come to pass, and in 
regard to accomplishing the Divine purposes, as you have 
shown me, in the World of Spirits. 

" But Dokeos," I continued, " while I believe that all 
these things occurred as they are recorded, they appear to 
me exceptional and special, rather than illustrating any 
universal, or even general principle. 5 ' 

" You surely must forget the general announcements 
of the Word, which prove that this principle of the Divine 
government is of universal application," replied Dokeos. 
"There is 'joy in the presence of God among the angels 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 173 

I over, every sinner that repenieth' (Luke xv. 7) : angelic 
j sympathy and consociation must be as widely operative 
as there are sinners who repent. ' The angel of the Lord 
encampeth round about him that feareth the Lord, and 
delivereth him' (Psa. xxxiv.): angelic guardianship, is, 
therefore, just as universal as are those who fear the 
Lord. 6 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth 
to minister unto them that shall be heirs of salvation?' 
(Heb. i. 14): their ministrations, consequently, must 
I be equally extended as the heirs of salvation. 6 He shall 
[ give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy 
ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou 
dash thy foot against a stone' (Psa. xci. n, 12). This 
promise is addressed, as the first verse of the Psalm 
shows, to all who make the Lord their refuge and fortress, 
to all who choose Him as their God, and who trust in Him. 
The promise was quoted to Jesus by the Tempter in the 
wilderness (Matt. iv. 6) ; but the fact that the Tempter 
especially referred its application to Jesus certainly does 
not prove that the true application of the promise was 
restiicted to Jesus. The angels have spiritual watch 
over men; they strive to keep their feet in the ways of 
salvation ; they sustain the souls of men in times of 
temptation and spiritual peril, lest they transgress in will 
or deed any of the commandments of God, or 6 dash their 
foot against a stone/ Just as after the Lord's victory in 
the temptation angels ministered unto Him, so is it with 
every tempted and victorious human soul.'' 

" You make out a strong case, Dokeos," I responded, 
" and have answered some of my early questions. I 
listen gladly, for I would fain be convinced." 

" Why, the very fact that these heavenly men are 
styled angels, or messengers, implies that they are sent on 
missions of mercy, to bear messages of love," replied 



174 WHAT DO THE AXGELS DO? 



Dokeos. " Who are the objects of such missions ? To 
whom are such messages sent ? Being guardian angels, 
there must ever be those whom they guard. Being 
ministering spirits, there must ever be those to whom 
they minister. Their titles describe their office and 
imply their use. The Church still believes in the ' Com- 
munion of Saints :' and Paul told the Hebrew Christians 
that in learning to know and love their Saviour, they 
had in spirit ' come to Mount Zion. and to the city of the 
living God. the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable 
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the 
First-born, whose names are written in heaven' (Heb. xii. 
22, 23). The fact is a universal fact : the principle which 
it reveals is of universal application.'' 

" I remember. Dokeos." I observed. " three charming 
verses of a hymn, written by one Charles Wesley, which 
finely illustrate what you have been saying : — 

1 Let all the saints terrestrial sing, 

With those to glory gone ; 
For all the servants of our King, 
In heaven, on earth, are one. 

* One family we dwell in Him : 

One church, above, beneath ; 
Though now divided by the stream — 

The narrow stream of death. 

f One army of the living God, 

At His command we bow ; 
Part of His host hath crossed the flood, 

And part is crossing now ! ' " 

"It deserves to be remembered, for its sentiments are 
true, and their expression is striking, 7 ' replied Dokeos. 
" Every careful student of the Scriptures must, therefore, 
arrive at the conclusion that they do most certainly teach, 
firstly, by the way of illustrative examples, and secondly, 
by explicit declaration, the great fact of angelic guardian- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 175 



ship and ministration. There are, of course, differences 
between the particular cases named in the Word and 
common experience. One of these differences is, that all 
such manifestations had a purpose beyond the individual 
to whom such ministrations were appointed ; they were 
given that the Word might be written as it is. Another 
is, the angels were rendered visible by the opening of the 
spiritual sight of those who saw them. A further differ- 
ence is, that in some of the instances God, whom no man 
hath seen, neither can see, filled an angel with His pre- 
sence, so that the angel spake as God in the place of 
God, and thus was a revelation of God to the beholder." 

I fL 

"The Angel of the Lord." 

" You remind me, Dokeos," I said, " of a generally 
accepted opinion, — that ' the Ange of the Lord/ such as 
Redeemed' Jacob from all evil, and such as led the 
Israelites, of whom the Lord said My name is in him,' 
and such also as Isaiah speaks of, 6 In all their afflictions 
He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved 
them' (Isa. lxiii. 9), was none other than the pre-existent 
soul or spirit of Jesus. Is this so ?" 

Sophos replied to me. " If God be two and not one, if 
Jesus were the Son of God born from eternity, as personally 
distinct from the Father as the son of a human father is 
distinct from his human father, such a theory might be 
possibly true. But this supposition would involve the 
conclusion that there were and are two Gods, as distinct 
in person as a man and his son; and because the theory 
of necessity involves such a fatal conclusion, it cannot 
possibly be true. The Lord Jesus was the ' Everlasting 
Father,' or ' the Father of Eternity,' not an Eternal Son, 
manifested in the flesh. We read that no man ' hath seen 



1 76 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



God at any time' (John i. 1.8) ; 6 Ye have neither heard 
His voice at any time, nor seen His shape' (John v. 37). 
Hence, in almost all those statements which appear as $ 
though God had rendered Himself personally visible, I 
the personification is also described as 6 the angel/ as in I 
the case of the angel who appeared to Jacob, and wrestled £ 
with him. He is described as a man, yet he blessed Jacob 
as God, and Jacob called the place Peni-el, the face of I 
God, because, as he said, 6 1 have seen God face to face, 
and my life is preserved' (Gen. xxxii. 24-30). So also 
Manoah, after having twice seen 6 the angel of Jehovah,' ; J 
said, * We shall surely die, because we have seen God' 
(Judg. xiii. 22). These, and other instances, show that [1 
these revelations of God were by means of an angel whom I 
the Lord filled with His presence, overpowering and m 
rendering inactive the individual consciousness of the jrl 
angel, as that he could speak as God ; in other words, 
Jehovah put His name in him, and the angel thus became } 
the angel of His prese?ice. An instance of the same kind 
is recorded in the Apocalypse, where, within a few verses, 
we read that an angel appeared, who was made so glorious 
with the Divine presence as that John, despite his having 
been previously rebuked for a similar misapprehension 
(Rev. xix. 10), fell at his feet, and was about to worship 
him ; the angel reproved him, and told him, ' I am thy 
fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets ;' yet 
immediately afterwards he declared, ' I am Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last ;' 
and after, 4 1 Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto 
you these things in the churches' (Rev. xxii. 8, 9, 13, 16). 
He was an angel filled with the presence of the Lord, in 
whom was the name of the Lord, and who was thus em- 
powered to representatively reveal the Lord, and to speak 
as the Lord in His name." S 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



177 



" Your explanation is exceedingly suggestive, Sophos," 
I rejoined, " and shall have careful consideration. But, 
Dokeos, if the appearances of angels recorded in the 
Scriptures differ so from the ordinary consociation of 
angels and men, what are the universal principles which 
underlie ordinary consociation ?" 

The Laws of Consociation. 

"Among many others, the following may well be 
specified," responded Dokeos : — 

" I. Angels were once men on earth, and good men are 
potentially angels : there is therefore an affinity between 
them. Both internally are similar in kind, alike spiritual 
beings, however they may differ in the degree of love and 
wisdom into- which they have entered. 

" II. Man is, as to his spirit, already an inhabitant of the 
spiritual world, and is associated there with those who are 
in similar states of affection and thought. Yet the normal 
consciousness of both angels and men is in the ultimate 
plane in which each lives ; thus the normal consciousness 
of angels is in the spiritual, and that of man in the natural 
world. 

" III. All the inhabitants of the spiritual world, whether 
in heaven, hell, or the world of spirits, are arranged, ac- 
cording to their intellectual genius, into what, for lack of 
a better word, we may term societies. Into one of these 
societies, every man enters at birth : his associates are 
those who are like himself in mental character, genius, 
aptitude, and individuality. None can pass out of his 
peculiar society, because no one could pass out of his 
own intellectual nature, and be some other person than 
himself. Each of these societies in the world of spirits 
is conjoined with a corresponding society in each heaven, 

M 



173 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 



and associated with a partially corresponding society in 
hell ; so that there is a heavenly form of each society, a 
corresponding form of each in the World of Spirits, and 
also a partially corresponding form of each in hell. In 
this way is provided a line of media through which the 
Divine efflux of life and light and love may mediately 
flow, so as to reach every spirit in the World of Spirits, 
every man on earth, and even the infernals in hell. 

" IV. While the genius of each man is fixed at birth, and 
therefore the society into which he enters is to him an 
unalterable fact, and one that he would never wish to 
alter, inasmuch as he can never desire to lose his in- 
tellectual individuality, or to be some other than him- 
self, yet there is every scope for moral elevation and 
spiritual development ; for all the heavens are open up- 
wards in each line of mediation ; there is likewise every 
possibility of perversion and degradation, for all the hells 
are open downwards in each line. The ultimate basis 
of the whole complex system is mankind on earth : the 
great centre of all the system is the Lord, who, as the 
Sun of Righteousness, a heavenly sun, shines over all. 
The great law of societary arrangement is similarity of 
character ; the law of consociation within that societary 
arrangement is similarity of state. Hence, without 
quitting the society to which each human spirit belongs, 
he may be consociated with angels, or with spirits, or 
even with devils ; he may ascend by regeneration into 
the highest heaven, or remain in a mixed condition of 
good and evil, or sink by continued perversions to the 
deepest hell. So again each man may come to occupy 
in the spiritual society into which he is born a relatively 
external, intermediate, or central position ; or he may 
come to be a connecting link between his society and 
another, or others. The fullest freedom of using or of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 179 

abusing, of developing or of perverting, his inborn 
faculties is the inheritance of each human soul, yet 
out of the hereditary intellectual limitations of his in- 
dividuality he cannot step. Thus is reconciled in each 
case fate and freedom, liberty and destiny; and these 
are harmonious. 

" V. There flows down this line of mediation to each 
soul an efflux from the Lord, which, because it passes 
through these intermediate angels and spirits, we de- 
signate mediate, and it continually acts upon the soul, in 
order to implant within it true thoughts and good affec- 
tions ; to excite into activity good affections previously 
implanted; and also to repress the activity of the heredi- 
tary evil affections which the infernals seek to excite and 
stimulate into action ; and further, to lead the soul by 
the perception of truth to resist temptation, to strive 
against evil, and to put it away. 

"VI. Besides this mediate efflux from the Lord through 
angels and spirits, there is an immediate influx of life from 
the Lord, flowing from the inmost degree or plane of 
man's nature, which is the dwelling-place of the Lord in 
each soul, down through interior planes, which are not 
yet opened to his consciousness, into the external plane 
of his rational and sentient mind, where consciousness 
has its seat. This immediate influx of life from the Lord 
is formless until it is received; and it is bounded, 
limited, and therefore takes form in the consciousness in 
which it terminates, — just as water flowing into a vessel 
assumes the form of the vessel ; or just as wind blown 
into musical instruments takes the tone and character 
peculiar to each instrument. The mind is such a vessel, 
and the life of love, wisdom and power which man 
receives from the Divine Source of all life puts on the 
form of the character of the mind. Man, however, is not 



i8o WHAT DO THE AXGELS DO t 



God ; but all men live from God by an influx of life. 
Just as each plant imbibes so much heat and light from 
the sun, so much carbonic acid gas and moisture from 
the atmosphere, and so much of other materials from the 
soil, all of which it fixes in the form which is its own, 
while the plant is not heat, light, moisture, carbonic acid 
gas, or earthly matter ; so man receives from the sole 
source of life so much life as he can appropriate, and 
fixes it into the form or character which is his, and which 
truly is himself, while yet man is not life, but only a 
vessel which is recipient of life. Do you comprehend 
this?" 

U 'I think I do," I answered, "and the explanation 
manifestly protects your proposition from the charge of 
Pantheism. The form is man : but life flows from the 
Lord into this form, and the life thus received assumes 
the form which receives, appropriates, and Axes it. This 
life so received is not Divine life, but life fro?n the 
Divine Being." 

"This distinction is real and not verbal merely," inter- 
posed Sophos. " To illustrate the point, you may think 
of this inflowing life as activity, proceeding from the 
Great First Force, or Sole Cause of Activity. It assumes 
distinctive forms according to the nature of the subject 
into which it enters and by which it is bounded or 
terminated : received into the lower forms of matter, it 
becomes gravitation, cohesion, chemical affinity and other 
ordinary qualities of matter : received into vegetable 
forms, it becomes vegetal life with all its powers and 
properties : received into animal forms, it becomes 
animal life with new faculties and qualities : received 
into man, it becomes human life, endowing the intellect, 
the will, the sentient soul, and even the body, with activ- 
ity, which is its own particular gift. This activity in 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 181 

the Divine is infinite love and wisdom ; when received 
by other forms it is so much love and wisdom as each of 
such recipient forms is capable of manifesting, or of typi- 
fying and representing as in a mirror. Hence all things 
in nature are more or less approximate types of man ; 
because, along with man, they all derive the life that is 
in them from God, and because man, more fully than any 
other created being, images or typifies God. 

" It is now known that heat, light, electricity, galvanism, 
are interchangeable correlatives, and that the simplest 
definition to which they all can be reduced is, that they are 
so many different modes or forms of motion : in a higher 
manner, all life is activity derived from the First Great 
Force, and the forms and modes of which vary according 
to the differences existing in the recipients. Hence, in 
the sense of embodying all the possibilities of life, God 
is, as N the ancients described Him, 'the All;' in the 
sense of being the only embodiment of all the possibili- 
ties of life, God is also 'the One;' yet He has made, 
creatures to exist which are not God, and these created 
forms are vivified by the influx of activity from Himself. 
If you think of all the created forms which ever did exist, 
or which now exist, or which will ever exist, you would 
not thereby think of God; for He is apart from and above 
them, though He is the Fountain of life from which each 
receives his or its tiny stream of life. Nor is God 6 the 
soul of the world J in any other than this figurative sense, 
— that, inasmuch as the body derives its life from the 
soul, so all created things derive their life from God. 
Life inflowing from God into man has no moral or intel- 
lectual quality or character : it is a living activity which 
terminates in man's will and intellect, in his sentient and 
conscious soul, and thence descends into his body. This 
influent life becomes man's own life when he has received 



182 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



and appropriated it; by appropriating it, each man gives 
to the life which he has thus received his own moral and 
intellectual character ; he stamps upon it his own image 
and superscription, and therefore it is man's own. His 
mental and moral form becomes more and more fixed by 
habit and voluntary choice, and so life as it is received 
and appropriated by him becomes more markedly char- 
acteristic, and more manifestly his own." 

" These ideas are full of suggestion, Sophos," I said, 
when he paused ; " they demand much thought, however, 
and which I promise to give to them. Now, Dokeos, 
pray proceed to explain how the second line of efflux 
from the Lord, which you style mediate, operates, and to 
what end." 

" I distinguish between these two forms of efflux," re- 
sumed Dokeos, " by designating that which is immedi- 
ately received from the Lord the influx of life; and by 
styling that which proceeds mediately through angels and 
spirits afflux — an activity which flows to the living form 
and acts upon it, not from within the inmost ground of 
man's being, but relatively from without. Deprived of 
continual influx of life immediately from God, or were it 
for an instant suspended, man would cease to exist. He 
is not a machine, once set going and maintained in mo- 
tion by any adjustment of forces, or by any reserve of 
force stored up within him : he continues to live by a 
continual inflowing of life. But man is a complex, many- 
sided being, having within his spiritual nature a multitude 
of faculties and various interior planes in which affections 
may have their seat, thence to flow down into the rational 
plane in which he is conscious. Mediate afflux acts upon 
these various inner planes or degrees which belong to 
man as a spiritual being, stimulating them into activity, 
and by thus inducing within them a power of reaction 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 183 



against the downflowing activity from the Lord, helping 
in their development. (Pardon my using terms which at 
present cannot communicate any clear idea to your mind, 

I but which will shortly be explained.) In this way celestial 
angels act upon the celestial plane in man ; spiritual 

J angels operate on the spiritual plane in man ; angels of 
the kingdom of obedience operate upon the plane which 
corresponds to their spiritual condition ; and good spirits 

1 operate upon the ordinary rational plane. All these seek 

I to excite good affections, which become thoughts, in man's 
mind ; further, to fix in man's very constitution as a spiri- 
tual being the states of pure love and true thoughts through 
which he has passed, and likewise to bring into activity 
all the good affections and truths which may have pre- 
viously been implanted. The object at which they aim 
is, that man may thus be led in freedom to the continual 
voluntary re-adoption of such good affections, and thus 
- to confirm and establish them in his character, to form 
which is his life's great work. Do you still follow me? " 

" I think I know what you mean," I replied, " though, 
of course, I make nothing clear to myself of some of your 
distinctions, such as the classes of angels, and the planes 
of the human mind." 

" These I shall endeavour to make plain to you when 
we speak of the distinctions existing among the angels," 
rejoined Dokeos. "For the moment, permit me to con- 
, tinue. No man is isolated from his kind. All are in- 
volved in a vast network of inter-action. In the world 
man acts upon men in a thousand ways : in the spiritual 
world this inter-action does not cease, but it becomes 
more interior and more complicated. Feelings and affec- 
tions flow in upon the souls of all men, suggesting appro- 
priate thoughts, which are thus presented in order that 
man may appropriate them by the exercise of his own 



1 84 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



will. Neither thoughts nor feelings are, strictly speaking, 
a man's own until he has consented to the feeling, and 
has adopted the thought. By the repetitions of such 
consentings, and of such adoptions, however, each man 
forms in himself a definite moral and intellectual charac- 
ter ; he assumes his own proper and special place in the 
society to which his spirit belongs ; he renders more de- 
finite and more operative the kinds of afflux to which he 
yields himself most willingly the subject; his consocia- 
tions with particular angels or spirits or devils becomes 
increasingly closer and more congenial ; he either rejoices 
in his emancipation from evil or he rivets his chains, and 
thus he becomes gradually fitted either for heaven or for 
hell. So long as he lives in the natural world, a man is 
kept in equilibrium between the opposing afflux of good 
and evil spirits, so that he may choose in freedom to 
which side he will incline. When he enters into the 
spiritual world, the equilibrium ceases ; for then, becom- 
ing conscious in the spiritual plane of his nature, he vol- 
untarily chooses his associates, his place of abode, and 
the indulgence of his ruling love. 

" Men act on each other by the outward expression of 
thoughts and feelings ; these produce impressions in the 
mind, both distinct and vague; the impressions become 
generalized into convictions, or are appropriated by the 
will as motives, and thus influence conduct. The impres- 
sions remain long after the circumstances which give rise 
to them cease to be remembered ; the convictions remain 
long after the particular impressions which they general- 
ized are forgotten; the motives remain as prejudices and 
habits of will when the convictions which the will thus 
first selected and approved have gone beyond the power 
of recall. If men can so act upon each other, when that 
action must in the first instance be consciously received 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



185 



from without, how much more potently can spirits act 
upon men ! They operate directly into the will, and by 
awakening former affections, revive trains of recollection, 
or suggest new developments of an old fancy ; thus 
mingling the old and new so as often to render it a 
matter of debate to the man himself whether he does not 
positively remember something that he sees or imagines 
for the first time. While angels and spirits thus re-awaken 
former emotions, recall previous states, and lead the con- 
sciousness into new conditions of feeling, and thence of 
thought, it appears to the man as though the feelings and 
thoughts were altogether his own, the free activity of his 
own soul. This appearance of living, willing, and think- 
ing of and from himself is necessary to man, in order 
that he may be an image and likeness of God, who 
absolutely lives in and from Himself. In man's case, 
however, it is only an appearance, for he lives from God, 
and by far the larger proportion of his states of affection, 
and consequent thoughts, are excited by the angels, 
spirits, and devils who are with him." 

" But," I observed, " does not this theory play havoc 
with man's responsibility ? How can he be accountable 
for an operation of which he is only the subject, and 
over which he has no control ? 99 

" Man is not accountable for the thoughts that flash 
across his mind, nor for the feelings which start up in his 
consciousness," rejoined Dokeos. " Even the purest will 
sometimes have a thought injected into his mind, from 
which he recoils ; even the best will become conscious 
of an emotion which will fill him with pain. He is ac- 
countable for the thoughts which he voluntarily harbours, 
for the feelings that he cherishes ; but his accountability 
is then, not for the entrance into his mind of the thought 
or emotion, but for his harbouring, choosing, and cherish- 



1 86 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



ing them. The mind is like an inn, or an exchange, or 
other place of public resort : a hundred vagrant wayfarers 
may enter in and pass through it, those which are invited 
home, or are made friends and companions of, really act 
upon, the character, and so render the man responsible." 

"What part, then, of his mental or voluntary opera- 
tions lie peculiarly within man's individual province, and 
which are, consequently, actually his own ? " I asked. 

" The mental appropriation of the suggested thought, 
the voluntary adoption of the excited feeling — these are 
the results of the man's individual choice," said Dokeos. 
" We can choose only from what is presented : the pre- 
sentation, therefore, affords an opportunity of making 
choice. As each chooses, he forms his character ; and 
as his character becomes denned, he, too, in his turn, 
becomes a medium from whom afflux proceeds to operate 
on others. To a certain extent, each man in the natural 
world exerts such an influence over others; he thus 
prepares himself to exert a still greater influence when 
he enters into the spiritual world ; because then, he can 
operate directly into the will, without the necessity of his 
voice being heard, or his writings being read, or of his 
ideas being first received into the memory." 

" The presentation of what is bad, then, is a tempta- 
tion," I remarked, " and the presentation of what is good 
is an opportunity for spiritual progress. Now, are there 
any special duties devolving upon particular angels attend- 
ant on man at any peculiar periods of man's existence ? " 

Special Uses and Consociations. 

" Yes," replied Sophos. " Inasmuch as all consocia- 
tion is according to state, and the states of all men are 
different at different periods, consociation at such different 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



periods must needs differ. Man passes through the state 
of infancy, childhood, youth, young manhood, maturity, 
old age : his spiritual condition during these periods of 
necessity varies • so also his consociation with angels 
and spirits correspondingly varies. During infancy each 
human being is the charge of the highest, holiest, and 
therefore the wisest of the angels in the society into 
which the infant soul has entered. We designate these 
celestial angels. Hence the Saviour said of all children, 
that 'in heaven their angels do always behold the face of 
My Father which is in heaven 7 (Matt, xviii. 10). Their 
most congenial duty it is to implant in the tender child 
every gentle affection and every true thought which may 
visit its dawning mind. Something of these thoughts and 
affections remain with the child, notwithstanding that he 
may not remember them, and we term such Celestial 
Remains, From birth to about the tenth year these 
celestial angels continue with the child, laying in, in the 
innocence of its young soul, the deep foundation of its 
future heavenly character. 

"But about this period there takes place a change in 
the state of the child : the time of intellectual activity 
increasingly predominates, and another class of angels 
minister to him ; these we. designate spiritual angels, who 
belong to the Lord's kingdom of wisdom, as the celestial 
angels especially belong to the Lord's kingdom of love. 
These strive to develop in the child his rational faculties, 
implanting therein the love of knowing and also confi- 
dence in his teachers. Something of these states remain 
with him, and we designate them Spiritual Remains. 

" The child becomes a youth, and another class of 
angels attend him who are adapted to his changed con- 
dition; these angels are of the Lord's kingdom of obedience, 
| and they strive to foster in the youth's soul the desire to 
live out, to reduce into practice the truths that he learns. 

I ■ 

1$ 



1 88 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



" His state still farther changes ; he develops into the 
accountability of manhood : he has to encounter a man's 
temptations, and do a man's work in a world of work ; 
loosed from the supervision and superintendence of 
parents, guardians and teachers, he must now exercise 
his power of free determination, and decide for himself 
among the problems of practical experience. Yet he is 
not forsaken by helpers. Good spirits are about him, 
striving to lead him successively into the voluntary re- 
adoption of the i remains ' of obedience, or of loyalty to 
truth, or of innocence, which have been stored up within 
his soul. Evil spirits are likewise with him, seeking to 
excite into activity his hereditary predispositions to evil, 
by imparting bad and base affections, to suggest corres- 
ponding ideas, and thus to make him their slave. Ac- 
cording as he decides, he allies himself with angels or 
devils, renders his soul more accessible to good or to 
bad influences, and sways the balance to the right or to 
the left. 

" Through all his subsequent changes of state, the man I 
is still accompanied by good and bad spirits and angels. 
If he resists the evil and adopts the good, angels and good 
spirits enter into still closer association with him, and 
evil spirits retire from him : the contrary takes place, if 
he adopts the evil and rejects the good. A blessed old 
age is attained when, having nobly fought his good fight 
of faith, the man has re-entered into the innocence of his 
early states, made now to be the innocence of wisdom, as 1 
that of his childhood was the innocence of ignorance; 
when he has again come into consociation with the 
purest and wisest of the Kingdom of God, and, his 
earthly work almost accomplished, he calmly yet hope- 
fully waits to hear the welcome, ' Friend, come up higher!' 
Through his pilgrimage of regeneration he has, as a man, 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 189 

had to retrace the line down which his childhood and 
youth had passed ; he successively has entered into the 
delight of obedience, thence into the love of the truth for 
its own sake, and thence into the love of goodness, which 
is the love of God. Such angels as are in similar states 
are successively consociated with him, and many a fore- 
taste of their heavenly joys have been accorded to him. 
He is spiritually climbing the ladder which Jacob saw, 
and approaching nearer and still nearer to the Lord." 

" The speculation is beautiful," I exclaimed. 

" To you it may seem a pleasing speculation, my 
friend," rejoined Sophos. "To us it is the certainty of 
knowledge, whose beauty does but confirm its truth." 

" Properly regarded, then," added Dokeos, " every 
action of man's life is a drama, rising into heroism, or 
deepening into tragedy, according as he triumphs over 
evil, or becomes its victim. He deems himself to be 
alone ; but he is not alone. Angels are the spectators of 
the struggle, contending spirits are the combatants, with 
man rests the power of deciding the conflict, and his 
decision means spiritual life or spiritual death to the 
specific principle or affection involved in the struggle." 

" If all this be true," I exclaimed, " human life is 
wondrously solemn, and human conduct a marvellously 
important thing ! " 

" When we think of all the precursory affections and 
thoughts which were needed before any particular affec- 
tion or thought was rendered possible ; and when we 
think of all the unending consequences of every state of 
affection and thought, and remember all the varieties of 
spiritual forces between which each affection or thought 
adjusts the balance, we must conclude that no decision 
of man's will is trivial, and no human action is unimpor- 
tant," responded Sophos. " The smallest pebble cast into 



190 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 

a lake occasions a movement of the water which produces 
ever-widening circles, till they beat themselves to rest in 
ripples against the shore : human existence, however, is 
not bounded by time ; as to the future, it is a sea without 
a shore ; the circles produced therein by any decision or 
by any action go widening out for ever. These affec- 
tions and thoughts become fixed in the character of him 
who adopts them : they permanently enrich or impoverish 
the man." 

The Intellectual Side of Consociation. 

" All that you have yet said relates to the moral side 
of human character, to good and evil as presented to man 
and appropriated by him ; what of the intellectual side ? " 
I asked. " If it be true that afflux thus continually 
operates, how can we say of any one that he is an 
original mind, a creator? Is there no possibility of a 
genius arising who shall utter thoughts no other has ever 
possessed or expressed, or who shall embody ideas into 
institutions or inventions which will be perfectly novel?" 

"In one sense," answered Dokeos, "no man is original; 

for the origin of all true thoughts is God, and all false 

thoughts are but limitations, and perversions of the truth. 

° ... 
In another sense, every man is original ; for the thoughts 

of no two men are precisely alike. The kind of afflux of 
which each is the subject, his capacity and method of 
receiving it, the executive ability by which he embodies 
it in outward visibleness, and the manner in which his 
individual work is done, — all these differ in each man, 
and thus produce the diversities of things which you see. 
There is, therefore, no finality in regard to human pro- 
gress. Far greater mechanical, engineering, agricultural, 
scientific, artistic, literary and institutional triumphs await 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 191 

I mankind than any which have yet been compassed. Men 
i will be born more accessible and open to afflux, not only 
I from one section of a spiritual society but from all of the 
! society, or even from a combination of such societies, and 
the results will be proportionately remarkable. Hence 
men will arise who, in the ordinary sense of the term, 
will be more original than ever ; and yet, whose originality 
will really consist in their openness to the inflowing of 
ideas from the spiritual world, and in their intrinsic 
ability to co-operate therewith." 

" You speak of societies in the spiritual world and their 
conjoint operation, and not of individual angels or spirits 
— why is this ? " I asked. 

" The unit of production even in the natural world is 
not the individual, but a whole series of persons whose 
combined labours have evolved any result," replied 
Dokoes. "Think of the simplest operation, such, for 
example, as the writing of a book. The planting and 
gathering of the fibre whence the paper is made, its col- 
lection and transportation, its manufacture and distribu- 
tion ; and all the mining, smelting, casting, finishing and 
distribution of the tools employed in the process of the 
manufacture of paper ; and the previous labours of all 
those who prepared the tools with which the miners, 
smelters and tool-makers worked ; the process of labour 
of which the pens you use, or the ink which you employ, 
are the result ; all the labours of the writers and printers 
to whose works you refer ; all the labours of your previous 
teachers ; all the persons and things which have acted 
upon you in the development of your mental powers — 
all these, and a thousand others, involved in the produc- 
tion of the table on which your paper is laid, the chair on 
which you sit, the room and house which you occupy, 
the social and political conditions which render it possible 



TQ2 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



for you to write, have to be taken into the account, as 
tending directly and indirectly to the writing of your 
book. How much more complex does the arrangement 1 
appear, if you think of the erection of a cathedral, the 
building of a steamship, the construction and working of 
a railway, the establishment of a new commerce, or the 
creation of a new industry. Society is a great complex 
of societies. Even without preconcert, vast series of 
workmen co-operate in producing each final result. The ■ 
instant the principle of a division of labour is at all - 
adopted, centres are established for distinct industrial \ 
societies. Each labourer's work is a spiral touching many 
others, and communicating with, and acting on all. In > 
the natural world such inter-relations are confused, and 
we often fail to distinguish them : in the spiritual world f 
society is not less complex as to uses, but the choice of I 
his use is the natural determination of each man to the ; 
duty he most delights in, and which he can, therefore, 
perform with the greatest dexterity and success. Hence 
associations there are the inevitable combinations of 
specific genius, combining, also, according to the simplest 
law. The inter-relations and inter-actions of societies in 
the spiritual world are also more easily discerned. 

" Isolation is sterility ! To all human production more 
than one thing is necessary. In the spiritual world 
isolation is impossible. The most perfect illustration of 
organization which natural life furnishes is the human 
body, with its extreme diversity of parts and functions. 
Every minutest portion of the body performs its allotted 
use, and contributes its definite quotum to the complete ; 
operation of the whole. So, correspondingly, every | 
human unit in the spiritual world fills his appointed 
place, and performs his chosen function in the great 
economy of use which is there established. Each co- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



193 



operates and all the societies co-act. Each individual 
receives in happiness, delight, peace, and in the reception 
of the Divine Love and Wisdom, his abundant reward ; 
which is continually sufficient for each, because the 
capacity of receiving and containing, which each pos- 
sesses, is continually full. Such, again, as is the use of 
the spiritual society, such also is the character of the 
afflux from it into the minds of the workers on earth ; 
and such as is the use which the earthly worker most 
delights in performing, such is the afflux which he most 
fully receives." 

" Then there must be arts and sciences in heaven ! " I 
exclaimed. 

" Beyond all question there are, and must be," re- 
joined Dokeos ; "but the arts and sciences of heaven are 
heavenly, not earthly. They make one with earthly arts 
and sciences, not because they are earthly arts and 
sciences transplanted from earth into heaven, but by 
correspondence. We shall have more to say on this topic 
presently, when we converse as to what angels do in 
heaven. Suffice it now to declare that the inventions, 
discoveries, and institutions which the world witnesses 
are not solely or exclusively of human fabrication : the 
desire and disposition, and thence ideas, flow in upon 
men, who, by co-operating therewith, work out into vis- 
ible ultimation the things they have received. There is 
no inventor or discoverer who will not admit that the 
idea ' came to him 1 which afterwards he developed and 
fixed. i It came' — whence, and from whom? The fact 
is, that the agriculturists, mechanics, commercial men, 
teachers, preachers, writers, artists, poets, men of science, 
jurists, legislators, and rulers of the world, are all con- 
nected with societies who are in the love of corresponding 
uses in the spiritual world, and these are connected with 

N 



194 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 



the Lord, the final Author and Giver of all wisdom. J 
Each man receives afflux according to his peculiar genius, 
and whatever he produces is the combined result, the jj 
ultimate embodiment, of all that he has received, and of 
his individual co-action therewith." 

" But does not this startling consequence follow — that 
in proportion as human society becomes more perfect, 
the conditions of the spiritual world become more per- 
fect ? " I asked. { 

"It does follow, and it is true," replied Dokeos. 
" Have you any objection ? " i 

"It makes the higher dependent on the lower," I t 
hazarded. 

Sophos answered me. "If there is such an inter- >r 
relation between the whole of the intelligent creatures j) 
whom God has made as we can discern that there must & 
be, does it not follow that an adverse state of men pre- jt 
vents angels having the joy which they experience in fl 
perceiving the penitence of a sinner; and that, therefore, p 
in proportion as the Church becomes established on j 
earth, the joy of the angels becomes more full and per- \ 
feet ? Do you not see that, on earth, the perfection of j) 
society, regarded as a whole, is dependent on the rela- \ 
tive condition of the lowest classes? Do you not see 9 
also that the mental and moral perfection of society is t 
likewise dependent on the social, and even the physical i) 
condition of the people ? What means the maxim of one \ 
of your wise men, ' A sound mind in a sound body/ if it i) 
be not a recognition of the truth, that the well-being of ji 
the higher, the spiritual world in the individual man, is |[ 
dependent on the well-being of the lower, the physical I' 
or natural world in the individual man ? What is true of !i 
man as an individual is also true of man collectively, or 
as society ; because mankind is but the aggregate of all ir 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



I men. We show you a wider view of the human family ; 
j for in the sight of the Lord, and as viewed by instructed 
| intelligence, all the rational and free beings whom the 
i Lord has made in His image and likeness, whether they 
be angels, or spirits, or men, form one great and inter- 
related family ! " 

" It is a large, a comprehensive thought, Sophos," I 
answered ; " but like several others you have uttered, it 
j burdens the mind, and demands serious meditation.' 7 
" Before we quit this topic, * What do the angels do for 
man?'" said Sophos, "it will be well to specially notice 
| that the consociation of man with societies of spirits and 
angels does not in any way interfere with his freedom 
of will, or with his liberty in intellectual development. 
Good and bad spirits present to the man good and evil 
affections : they thus present opportunities of choice, and 
the choice which he makes is the exercise of his moral 
freedom. According as he chooses, he confirms the 
moral operation of either class of these his consociates. 

" The fullest latitude of intellectual development like- 
wise is furnished to every man. Each has all the 
faculties which belong to all, though in diverse conditions 
of relative proportion. Every faculty is capable of 
development; though the development of each mind 
will be easiest along the line of some special group of 
faculties. This facility of development in regard to some 
faculties indicates the intellectual character of each, and 
the spiritual society to which each belongs. Yet the 
development of all the faculties in wisdom and know- 
ledge will for ever continue. Each will continue to be a 
'Specialist' in the sense of having special powers, and 
thence functions; but the specialty will not arise from 
any starving of the other faculties of the human soul. It 
will not be a specialty of deformity ; the general develop- 



196 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 

ment will proceed uniformly with the development of the 
special capacity ; so that the man will for ever grow at 
once more markedly characteristic, and also more finely 
attuned and balanced, as he gains a more enduring and 
a more comprehensive insight into the infinite wisdom of 
the Eternal." 

" Thanks, Sophos," I said. " Let us come to the next 
topic." 

§ II. WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO FOR SPIRITS 
IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS? 

" It is," replied Dokeos, " What do the angels do for L 
spirits in the World of Spirits ? When a man's lungs cease 
to respire, he is said to be dead. Yet the links that unite 
the spirit and the body are not then immediately sun- 
dered. Hence some have been raised from the dead, as 
described in the Word ; others have reawakened to 
physical life, notwithstanding the fact that their bodies 
ceased perceptibly to breathe. You have surely heard 
of such cases ? " 

" I have," I answered, " and some of them have been 
very terrible, such as the moving of a supposed corpse in 
the coffin, and the interment of persons before they were 
really dead. Some such cases are also extremely inter- 
esting, from the narrations of what such persons have 
seen and heard, during the period between what their 
friends deemed their decease and their reviving." 

" Some of these narratives are undoubtedly true," 
added Dokeos. " The length of time which elapses 
between the seeming decease of any one and the com- \ 
plete disruption of all the connecting links which unite 
the soul and body, differs in each according to the state 
of the body, the nature of the disease, and the manner of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



197 



I death. In some the collapse is almost immediate ; in 
] others it is gradual and even slow, indicated in the con- 
; tinuation of a slight motion of the heart, the retention of 
I animal heat, colour in the face, and flexibility in the joints. 
In all cases, the indrawal of the soul from the body is a 
process ; and over this process the highest and holiest of 
angels preside. The child's prayer for angels to guard 
its slumbers is ever heard and granted; and, in like 
I manner, over the slumber of death angels keep watch 
I and ward." 

j "We can be still more particular," added Sophos. 
j " The inmost communication between the spirit and the 
; body exists in the systolic motion of the heart. When 
this motion entirely ceases, on which all the vital move- 
ments of the body depend, the separation of the spirit 
from the body takes place. This may be almost imme- 
diately, as on a battle-field, or it may be a day, or even 
j two days after death. The spirit sinks as into a deep 
! sleep : it is what has given rise to the notion of 6 death's 
long sleep;' though, in reality, it is the short sleep of death. 
Yet the spirit is not then alone. Angels of the celestial 
kingdom are. around him, and their presence drives away 
all evil spirits. Every one is thus guarded from evil 
spirits at his first awaking into the spiritual world. The 
process of awaking begins, and the spirit gradually be- 
comes aroused. He is first conscious of the state of feel- 
ing and thought in which he was immediately prior to 
the decease of his body, and which usually regards eter- 
nal life. The angels seek to retain him in this state, 
j He sees the angels, who inform him that he is a spirit in 
the world of spirits, and who fain would lead him to their 
j heaven. He remains with these so long as his state is at 
j all similar to theirs ; if the similarity is internal and com- 
j plete, he abides with them for ever. He separates him- 



i 9 8 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 



self from them so soon as he feels that his affections and 
desires are contrary to theirs. Then is repeated the won- 
derful sequence of angelic operation, of which, as an in- 
fant, a child, a youth, he had previously been the subject. 
He passes into the company of spiritual angels, who fain 
would claim him as their brother; and with these he con- 
tinues so long as he can have fellowship with them. De- 
parting from both the angels of the Lord's kingdom of 
love, and the Lord's kingdom of wisdom, he enters into 
temporary association with angels of the Lord's kingdom 
of obedience, and with these he abides so long as he can 
share their joys, because of his having made his own the 
' Remains ' which they had formerly implanted. If the 
newly resuscitated spirit has by regeneration, and by the 
voluntary readoption of the ' Remains ' which they im- 
planted, made the state of either of these classes of angels 
to be his own state of love, their eternal home is his, and 
they joyfully guide him to the abodes of the blessed, de- 
scribed in the parable as 6 Abraham's bosom.' If he has 
not thus entered into heavenly love, or if his state be a 
mixed state, he cannot long bear the presence of the 
angels, and he departs from them. He is then adjoined 
to good spirits, and remains with them so long as his 
affection is congenial with theirs. But the inevitable law 
in every case is, that the newly resuscitated spirit must 
seek for those who are in a similar state of affection with 
himself, and, when they are found, he must abide with 
them. Unlikeness produces constraint; and so entire 
is the freedom of spirits in the spiritual world, that they 
descend without hindrance along the line of spiritual 
helpers till they feel fully at liberty, because among their 
like. If they go to hell, their hell is self-chosen, just as 
the infernal affection which, in the natural world, fitted 
them for their hell, was chosen by themselves. In thus 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



welcoming the new-comers into the spiritual world, and 
in striving to draw out whatever of good was in them, and 
thus to lead them to heaven, can be discerned a great 
group of duties and uses devolving upon the angels in 
the World of Spirits." 

"Where, then, is the judgment which is passed upon 
every man after death ? And what is the nature of that 
judgment ? 19 I asked. 

The Process of Judgment. 

" The description given in the Word of the great white 
throne, and of the Lord sitting upon it coming to judge 
the spirits of men, is symbolry and not science," replied 
Sophos. " The symbols are taken from the tribunals ot 
human judgment, and they were employed to cause the 
idea to fall within the lines of ordinary human experience. 
The Lord is truly the Judge ; the great throne is the sym- 
bol of His sovereign authority as the King of kings and 
Lord of lords ; its whiteness is the symbol of the clear- 
shining of His Divine Truth, by which He tries and re- 
veals the states of men. The real process of judgment 
is an inward and spiritual process, and one which differs 
in its character as it is undergone by each individual man. 
The agents in the process are angels who are Examiners 
or Explorers of the life of each human being. 

" For the sake of illustration, we may group all the 
souls of men into four great classes,— first, those who are 
in truly heavenly states of love and perception, who have 
fought the good fight of faith in the natural world, and 
who waited with joy the death-summons or the coming to 
them of the Lord ; secondly, those who are in a mixed 
state, but whose ruling affection is good, whose minds 
are beclouded with falsities, and whose life has been full 



2oo WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



of infirmity, who come up to heaven through much tribu- 
lation, and need to pass through the process of vastation, 
in order to purge away their dross ; thirdly, those who 
are also in a mixed state, but whose ruling love is evil, 
whose understandings, however, are full of truths, hypo- 
crisies, feigned sanctity, and a self-delusion of righteous- 
ness ; who need to be deprived of all their counterfeits 
and cloaks, that they may stand revealed in their own 
spiritual deformity to themselves and to others ; and 
lastly, those whose loves and whose lives have been 
utterly evil, who have vitiated their souls by iniquity, 
whose hands reek with crimes, who have been confirmed 
adulterers, drunkards, thieves, and murderers ; who have 
been open, flagrant, truth-defying devils while on earth, 
and who are ready at once to rush down to perdition. 
The process of judgment on each of these classes, though 
similar in general principles, necessarily differs in many 
details. The first step of the general process is explora- 
tion, the second is vastation, the third is the entrance 
of the spirit into his final abode. I shall speak of these 
three steps successively. 

" First, the heavenly, who were angels on earth. When 
they meet with their like in the World of Spirits, they are 
filled with peace and joy. They accompany their angelic 
guides and guardians to their eternal habitations. There 
is no need of a further descent, for their state has already 
been explored. There is no need of vastation, the separa- 
tion of the false from the good, or the truth from the 
wicked; for this process has been effected on earth. 
They, like Lazarus in the parable, are at once ' carried by 
angels into Abraham's bosom/ They are fitted to be 
with the Lord where He is, they inhabit one of the many 
' mansions ' in the ' Father's house ' prepared for them. 
They pass at once to their final abode. Unhappily, in 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 201 



the present times, the number of such is not great ; but 
in this way the judgment on such is completed." 

" But their sins ! " I observed. " Who is without sin ? " 

" The heavens themselves are not absolutely pure in 
k the sight of God/' replied Sophos. " But the Word itself 
most mercifully teaches us on this point. .Behold ! " 

I heard music, which began in a gentle, solemn strain, 
full of mourning and sadness, which then gradually 
changed its character into a glorious burst of harmony, 
suggestive of joy, exultation, and triumph. As I gazed, 
the atmosphere seemed to grow dense, and in letters of 
silvery whiteness, glittering as with the sheen of pearls, I 
read these glorious words : — 

If the wicked will turn from all his sins that 

HE HATH COMMITTED, AND KEEP ALL My STATUTES, AND 
DO THAT WHICH IS LAWFUL AND RIGHT, HE SHALL SURELY 
LIVE, HE SHALL NOT DIE. ALL HIS TRANSGRESSIONS 
THAT HE HATH COMMITTED THEY SHALL NOT BE MEN- 
TIONED UNTO HIM : IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT HE 
HATH DONE SHALL HE LIVE."' 

IN THOSE DAYS, AND AT THAT TIME, SAITH THE LORD, 
THE INIQUITY OF ISRAEL SHALL BE SOUGHT FOR, AND 
THERE SHALL BE NONE ) AND THE SINS OF JUDAH, AND 
THEY SHALL NOT BE FOUND t FOR I WILL PARDON THEM 
WHOM I RESERVE, t 

I, EVEN I, AM HE THAT BLOTTETH OUT THY TRANS- 
GRESSIONS for Mine own sake, and will not remem- 
ber THY SINS. J 

Wash you, make you clean ; put away the evil of 
your doings from before mlne eyes ; cease to do 
evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the 
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the 

* Ezek. xviii. 21, 22. f Jer. 1. 20. X Isa. xliii. 25. 



202 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



widow. Come now, and let us reason together, 
saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, 
they shall ee as white as snow ; though they be 
red like crimson, they shall be as wool.* 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 
whose sin is covered. blessed is the man unto 
WHOM THE Lord imputeth not INIQUITY, and IN 
WHOSE SPIRIT THERE IS NO GUILE. t 

" Great is the loving-kindness of the Lord, who is 
abundant in all mercy, my friend," said Sophos. 

I could not speak. Those words of grace and forgive- 
ness, those pledges of pardon, overcame me. I felt that 
what Sophos had said concerning the judgment of the 
sanctified must be true. 

Sophos resumed : " The second class consists of those 
in a mixed state, whose ruling love is good, but who are 
encumbered with falsities of faith and infirmities of char- 
acter. These remain with the angels longer or shorter 
periods according as their state of goodness is more or 
less interior. As they descend from stage to stage, the 
process of exploration is continually going on. Their 
real character and life become increasingly manifest to 
themselves, and to the angels and good spirits who are 
near them. Not all at once can they unlearn their false 
notions and learn the truth. Not all at once can they 
overcome and root out the hereditary infirmities of their 
natures. They have to retrace the steps of their life-his- 
tory; experiences of temptation and trial are brought to 
bear on them, to see whether they will, in their then state 
of freedom, interiorly hate, abjure, and put away the evil 
infirmity. This process of putting off falsity, of putting 
away infirmity, of suppressing and subjecting in them- 

* lsa. i. 16-18. f Psa. xxxii. 1, 2. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 203 

selves whatever there is which is not in harmony with 
their ruling affection, is called vastation. . It differs in 
mode, interiorness, and severity, according to the state 
of each. The sufferings which many undergo in this 
process are often prolonged, varied, and terrible. It is a 
painful thing to wrench out of human souls loves which 
are often deeply seated, though not in harmony with the 
good ruling affection. All the sufferings of the earthly 
life are designed by the Lord to be vastatory — to har- 
monize the character of the soul into the order of heaven. 
The vastations of earth are much less severe than those 
of the World of Spirits. The love of money, the love of 
praise, the love of power, the vice of drunkenness, delight 
in ease, or in mere external pleasure, irritability of tem- 
per, self-indulgence, and such vices, bring upon the souls 
which have yielded to them, even while trying to resist 
them, intense anguish. Interior conflicts are, in the spiri- 
\ tual world, ultimated into corresponding appearances, so 
that they in whom such struggles take place, between the 
ruling affection and its desires and these inharmonious 
loves and their desires, appear to themselves to be in 
outward conflicts, outward privations, and outward bond- 
age. The inward sufferings of their minds flow down 
into the very substances of their spiritual bodies, filling 
them with strange pains and terrible sensations. They 
are troubled by conscience, remorse lays hold on them, 
the fear of hell strives with the hope of heaven, and they 
groan to be delivered. Their penitence is full of sorrow. 
They have seasons of peace until they fall again, but again 
to rise. They are not left alone. Angels and good spirits 
continually help and comfort them, infuse hope into 
them, teach them the truths of eternal life, and strive in 
every way to lead them to light and victory. They gra- 
dually tend upwards, the infernals cease to claim, infest, 

■ 1 I 

i 



204 WHAT DO THE AXGELS DO? 



and trouble them : and then, when at length they enter 
into a state that is homogeneous and self-consistent, they 
pass with joy and gratitude to their own place in heaven. 
They are among those who have ' come up through great 
tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white 
in the blood of the Lamb.' Their capacity of receiving 
heavenly joy is not so great as that of those who needed 
not this process, but it is full." 
" But is not this purgatory ? n 

u It is not surprising if there be a slight similarity be- 
tween the truth and the perversion of the truth," responded 
Soph os. M Priestcraft corrupted the truth by attaching to 
it the mummery of saying masses and of praying for the 
dead. Xo prayers can help them or affect them. They 
have to fight out the conflict till their real state is ren- 
dered homogeneous, and then they pass to their final 
abode. Even the early Christian Church overlaid the 
truth with a vain superstition, which however did not 
endure long, but to which Paul refers — it was being bap- 
tized for the dead (i Cor. xv. 29). We need not now re- 
new our former discussion on these points. The Word 
affirms the punishment, its comparative severity in some 
instances and lightness in other cases. The law under 
which it is inflicted is altogether merciful, for it is the 
only possible means by which those who are not inwardly 
evil may become freed from the consequences of their 
infirmities and their fallacies. Behold ! " 

Like a solemn march, distinctly marked and slow, the 
sounds of music came to me, and I saw upon the atmo- 
sphere in crimson lines the words : — 

That servant which knew his lord's will and 
prepared not himself, neither did according to 

HIS WILL, SHALL BE BEATEN WITH MANY STRIPES. BUT 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



205 



he that knew not, and did commit things worthy 
of stripes, shall be beaten with few.* 

Agree with thine adversary quickly whiles thou 
art in the way with him, lest at any time the ad- 
versary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge 
deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into 
prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no 

MEANS COME OUT THENCE TILL THOU HAST PAID THE 
UTTERMOST FARTHING. t 

" The 6 few stripes,' the ' uttermost farthing/ which is 
to be paid, refer to this process of vastation," said Sophos. 
" What sins then cannot be forgiven ? " I demanded. 
" Behold ! " exclaimed Sophos. 

Like the rising and falling of a storm, music burst out, 
now wild and wailing, and then gentle, peaceful, and 
tender, and in golden glory the words flamed out upon 
the air : — 

all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be for- 
given unto men; but the blasphemy against the 
Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And 
whosoever speaketh a word against the son of 
Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever 
speaketh against the holy ghost, it shall not be 
forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the 

WORLD TO COME. J 

" The sins which can be forgiven, either in this life or 
the life after death," said Sophos, "are sins against the 
Divine Truth as known and understood — the Son of 

* Luke xii. 47, 48. f Matt. v. 25, 26. J Matt. xii. 31, 32. 



2o6 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 

Man ; if, in the commission of such sins, the sinner has 
not inwardly corrupted and profaned all the impulses to 
goodness, all conscience, and all desires of reformation, 
with which the Holy Spirit of God has inspired his heart. 
The process is terrible, the 6 uttermost farthing ' must be 
paid. Only those, however, are finally lost who inwardly 
love evil and delight in it — who voluntarily, deliberately, 
and knowingly choose evil as their good, and hell as their 
heaven. They feel no compunction, know no remorse : I 
on earth they were devils incarnate ; in the other world 
they are devils disrobed of flesh." 

" Is not this dangerous doctrine to teach to sinners ?" 
I asked. 

"What?" demanded Sophos. "Is it dangerous to 
teach that c God's mercy endureth for ever ? ? To teach 
that He willeth not the death of any sinner, and never 
can will it ? To teach that eternity as well as time must 
furnish to Him opportunities for showing loving-kindness, 
and that those who are finally lost are lost despite all His 
will, and despite all the operations of His love? Let us 
justify God and vindicate His providence, the result will 
prove that He is wise and right ! 

" The third class," continued Sophos, " consists of 
those whose ruling love is evil, who, however, possess 
some knowledge of truth, some emotions of piety, some 
appearances of virtue, who veil their vices with hypocrisy, 
and who have been restrained from open iniquity by a 
selfish fear of loss. They, too, descend through the files 
of angels, with greater or less rapidity, according as their 
hypocrisy is more or less interior. They come down into 
the society of good spirits, and affect to be good, while 
inwardly they desire to be far away from such good 
spirits, that they may secretly commit their darling sins. 
The inward desire grows more and more powerful in pro- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



207 



1 portion as they find they can gain nothing by their hypo- 
crisies, and perceive that their real state is discerned and 
understood. Angels explore their state, and beneath the 
light of truth they shrink, and are forced both to reveal 
J and to perceive their real character. All their transgres- 
sions are written in their internal memory, their 6 Book of 
Life/ down to the minutest particular of time, circum- 
stances, motives, and place. They can hide nothing from 
those who explore their state, nor from themselves. They 
j re-enact the old scenes, burn with the old passions, revel 
in the old abominations, shudder again at the old dan- 
' gers, and contrive the old hypocrisies, but this time in 
the open light of day. They cannot escape from them- 
selves. They insensibly grow externally to be the very 
images of the lust which rules within them, in which they 
delight, and the gratifications of which they begin more 
I ^and more openly to desire and seek. Greed grasps, 
clutches, and hoards ; tyranny strives to enslave ; drunk- 
enness endeavours to join in mad orgies; blasphemy 
howls profanity ; lust leers, craves, and fain would sin ; 
cruelty invents tortures ; hatred whets imaginary daggers, 
and seeks to slay; envy grows green-eyed, lank, and 
blotched ; priestcraft fancies itself a lord over the souls 
of man, and would fain be a god ; every sin puts on the 
fantasy corresponding to itself, and the moral insanity of 
each begins to make for itself a hell. All desires of con- 
cealment are thrown off, one by one : the inwardly wicked 
grow to glory in their old iniquities, and which they burn 
to repeat. Evil though their delights are, they yearn for 
their delight, and seek such society as appears to promise 
to yield them what they crave. The Divine Word teaches 
us this truth. Behold ! " 

With music, mournful, wailing, terrible, just as though 
a chorus of angels had sobbed, I saw blaze out on the 



2o8 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



thickening atmosphere, in gloomy, reddish purple lines, 
the words : — 

There is nothing covered that shall not be re- 
vealed; NEITHER HID THAT SHALL NOT BE KNOWN. 

Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be 
heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken 
in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed on the 
housetops.* 

"As this process of exploration continues," resumed 
Sophos, " the second process of vastation also proceeds. 
Gradually the spirit forgets the truths which condemned 
the evils he loves. The love was an internal principle ; 
the truth was only an external thought of the memory. 
The external memory becomes closed, so that what he 
is inwardly then outwardly appears. He forgets all ex- 
ternal motives which had previously induced hypocrisy, 
all external restraints. He sinks into outer and utter 
darkness, which, of course, is spiritual darkness, or dark- 
ness in the soul. He shuns the light of heaven, he seeks 
the congenial shelter of caves and holes, where the evils 
of his heart can find surroundings to correspond to them. 
This privation is merciful ; for it prevents him from ac- 
quiring an infernal hatred of the good and true, and 
thereby of intensifying the miseries of his state. He 
sinks downwards rapidly, continually, until his condition 
becomes homogeneous, evil is wedded in him to con- 
genial falsity, iniquity and blindness are correlative in 
him, and the only motive which can thenceforth restrain 
him from inflicting injury upon others is terrible fear of 
punishments, which, however, ever and anon is im- 
potent to fully restrain him. This process of deprivation, 
or vastaiion, is also described in the Word — Behold !" 
* Luke xii. 2, 3. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



209 



As he ceased to speak, there came a silence far more 
terrible than the wailing music I had just heard, a silence 
that seemed to chill and curdle my blood, and to weigh 
me down with sadness; and I read on the darkening 
atmosphere, in pale, fitful, phosphorescent flickerings, the 
inscription : — 

Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give 
it unto him that hath ten talents. for unto 
every one that hath shall be given, and he shall 
have abundance; but from him that hath not, 
shall be taken even that which he hath. and cast 
ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness : 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.* 

I bowed my head, and seemed to murmur the prayer, 
" O Lord, enter not into judgment with Thy servant ! " 

"The fourth class," resumed Sophos, "consists of those 
who are inwardly and outwardly evil, who have indeed 
committed the sin against the Holy Spirit, that is, who 
have destroyed and driven away out of their souls every 
love of goodness and truth, who delight in evil, who, 
because they have been devils on earth, rush down, with 
blasphemies and cursings, to their own place, the deepest 
and direst hells. Happily, there are not many such in 
the world. It is far better for society on earth that men 
should be restrained from evil by merely external and 
selfish motives, than that they should throw off all cloaks 
and all restraints, and make earth as much like hell as 
they can, by reason of the openness and flagrancy of 
their sins ! 71 

" In thus guiding, exploring, teaching, and endeavour- 
ing to help spirits in the World of Spirits," I said, "angels 

* Matt. xxvi. 28-30. 
O 



2IO 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



must indeed find abundance of most congenial employ- 
ment, for which their wisdom and tenderness will have 
eminently fitted them." 

Order and Arrangement 

"True," said Dokeos. "But this enumeration by no 
means exhausts their uses. Think of the multitudes ■ 
which continually stream into that world from the natural 
plane; one new comer enters at each second of time. ' 
These are of all ages, and in every variety of state. 
Premising that the process of judgment now occupies 
from a few days to thirty years of earthly time, there must 
be in the World of Spirits at any one time nearly as many ; 
spirits from your earth as there are inhabitants of the i 
earth, and they are estimated to be " 

" A thousand millions," I answered. 

"But the earth is only one of an innumerable multi- i 
tude of earths, from all of which spirits continually stream 1 
into the World of Spirits. You may, therefore, mentally ; 
multiply the thousand millions by as many millions, till ! 
numbers overwhelm the thought. And every one of i 
these spirits has to be cared for; they are not houseless 
and raimentless ; they are not an indiscriminate mob, 1 
without order and arrangement; the anarchy of confusion |i 
does not reign there. Order is essential to existence, and 
with respect to an enormous proportion of these spirits, p 
they have not principles of order inscribed in their own I 
souls ; the order to which they submit must come from i 
without. By means of what agency, then, does the Lord - 
govern all this mass of human beings? They are ignorant, f 
and need to be taught ; they are wanderers, and need to i 
be led; they are spiritually children, and need to be : : 
governed." i 

i 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO? 211 

"You. enlarge my thoughts, Dokeos," I exclaimed. 
•" Let me ask you, then, how are they housed and pro- 
vided with raiment ? " 

" Three things are provided from the Lord for every 
spirit that enters the World of Spirits, — a habitation, cloth- 
ing, and food, ,, replied Dokeos. 

Do Spirits and Angels Eat? 

" Food ? Do they need to eat and drink in the spiritual 
world ? Do angels eat and drink ? " I asked. 

"Certainly," rejoined Dokeos. "There is but one 
being who is self-subsisting, and He is God. All other 
beings receive life from Him; but in order to contain 
that life, they need to draw from the world external to 
them the materials which build up their plane of resist- 
ance and reaction. Thus all created beings depend on 
-two, sources, — God as the source of their life, and the 
world as the source of the material whence they maintain 
their existence. This necessity is on man in the world 
of natural substance, whence they draw the natural sub- 
stances requisite for the maintenance of their natural 
forms. An analogous necessity must exist in the spiritual 
world, whence they draw the spiritual substances requisite 
for the maintenance of their spiritual forms. 

" Either the substance of their spiritual bodies is 
eternal, or not eternal : if eternal, then the substance is 
Divine, for He alone is eternal ; if not eternal, the sub- 
stance needs to be renewed. Needing to be renewed, 
either it must be renewed by influx from within, or by 
appropriation from without : but the influx from the Lord 
is of life, and not of substance. There must also exist 
planes of reception into which the influx of life can flow ; 
and of reaction by which such influx of life can be termi- 



212 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



nated, bounded, and contained : hence it must be re- 
newed in another way. In what way, then? Arguing 
from the only analogy which exists, the substance which 
needs to be renewed must be renewed from without, by 
the orderly process of eating and drinking. 

" Again : spirits are in the human form, with mouth, 
teeth, tongue, palate, and stomach : now, nothing exists 
without having functions implied in its existence. To 
say that angels possess this masticating, digesting, and 
assimilating apparatus, and that it has no corresponding 
use, would be to assert that God had given them organs 
without functions — that He had made many things in f 
vain. Are you prepared to assert this ? " 

" You confound me, Dokeos," I replied. " But if this 
analogy be pressed to all its possible lengths, how far will 
it lead?" 

"I know to what it leads," rejoined Dokeos. "But at 
present w T e have to discuss the question, Do the angels I 
eat and drink? The angels who appeared to Abraham 
in Mamre 6 did eat ' (Gen. xviii. 8). The Psalmist says 
of the manna given to the Israelites, ' He rained down \ 
manna from heaven upon them, and had given them of the 
corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food ' (Ps. lxxviii. I 
24, 25). The rich man in hell desired that Lazarus should 
'dip the tip of his finger in 7uaterio cool his tongue? The i 
Saviour said, ' I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of i 
the vine, until that day when / drink it new with you in \ 
My Father's Kingdom' (Matt. xxvi. 29). The marriage- 1 
supper of the Lamb and His Bride which is to be cele- \ 
brated in heaven also implies eating and drinking. All \ 
who will come are invited to come, and take of the water J 
of life freely (Rev. xxii. 17). The Tree of Life is to bear I 
twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month k 
(Ezek. xlvii. 12 ; Rev. xx. 2) ; thus implying eating in the \ 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 213 



World of Spirits, and inasmuch as the same law obtains 
throughout the whole spiritual world, the act of eating is 
implied in heaven. The same is implied in the promise, 
1 Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit 
down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom 
of heaven ' (Matt. viii. 11). Jesus ate of the broiled fish 
and honeycomb, and also of bread, after His resurrection 
(Luke xxiv. 43 ; John xxi. 13, 15) ; and He said to His 
disciples, ' I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father 
hath appointed unto Me ; that ye may eat and drink at 
My table in My Kingdom (Luke xxii. 29, 30). Hence 
also He said, ' Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the 
Kingdom of God' (Luke xiv. 15). Do not these passages 
manifestly imply eating in heaven ? " 

" Yes," I answered, " but are not the eating and drink- 
ing of that spiritual kind referred to by the Lord in the 
statements that we are to eat His flesh and drink His 
blood?" 

"All actions in the spiritual world are representative 
of internal things. Yet there are also external actions 
performed, which are thus representative. All things 
that men or spirits receive are representative of the 
Divine Love and Wisdom, of which the Lord's flesh and 
blood were the highest, the Divine symbols. But the 
symbols are manifold ; and all such symbols are repre- 
sentative embodiments of these divine essentials of all 
existence. The Divine Love and Wisdom produced in 
this world, for the use of man's body, natural fruits and 
natural water : in like manner, the Divine Love and Wis- 
dom produce in the spiritual world spiritual fruits and 
spiritual water, for the use of the spiritual bodies of men. 
In partaking of those things, the spiritual bodies are 
nourished and sustained, and at the same time those who 
partake are quickened with new perceptions of Divine 



214 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



Wisdom and new realizations of Divine Love. The in- 
most cause, the creative power of the Lord, and its 
external effect, the fruits and water, are but the diverse 
forms of the same thing; and the sustentation of the 
spiritual bodies of the angels and their internal increase 
in love and wisdom are simultaneous and correspondent 
operations of the Lord in them. They live and feast in 
God i yet there is an external feasting, as well as internal 
repasts ; and by both ^operating together, the twofold 
result is produced, — the souls of the angels are fed, and 
their external forms are sustained." 

" Of course, they are not flesh-eaters, nor drunkards," 
I said. 

"The original intention of the Lord concerning man 
is expressed in the Word : — ' Of every tree of the garden, 
thou mayest freely eat;' therefore the Lord ' made to grow 
out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight, 
and good for food/ Were man in the true order of his 
existence, no animal food would be eaten on earth. 
Drunkenness is bestiality : the wine that the Lord has 
promised to drink in heaven is ' new wine.' The angels 
eat and drink only so much as is needful for their suste- 
nance. Their food is the etherealized substance of heaven. 
Grossness and gluttony, like drunkenness, cannot enter 
there. The vile and filthy are infernal ; vileness and 
filthiness are in hell." 

The Raiment of Spirits and Angels. 

"Well, Dokeos," I said, "let us return. You were 
saying that food, raiment, and habitations are provided 
for all spirits by the Lord. What kinds of raiment do 
they wear ? " 

" Raiment corresponds to truth : such as are the 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 215 



knowledges of truth which spirits possess, such also their 
raiment appears," replied Dokeos. "It is produced upon 
and around the persons of the spirits by the direct opera- 
tion of the Lord, in accordance with the universal law of 
that world, — that such as men are inwardly, such also 
are all the surroundings by which they are environed. 
Hence their raiment accords with their state. To those 
who were under the altar white robes were given (Rev. vi. 
11); the sealed, and those who had come up through much 
tribulation, were also arrayed in white robes (vii. 13); 
the Lamb was to feed them, and lead them to living 
fountains of waters (ver. 17); the guests at the Marriage 
Supper of the Lamb are to be 'arrayed in fine linen, 
clean and white : for the fine linen is [or represents] the 
righteousness of the saints ' (Rev. xix. 8). The angels 
who have appeared to various persons as recorded in the 
Word are sometimes described as to their raiment, and 
in all such cases it was the outward representative of 
their state. So also the Lord is described in different 
garbs, as by Ezekiel, Daniel, and John ; but in all such 
descriptions the overpowering glory of the Most High 
was the principal impression produced on the mind, of 
the seer. 

" Remembering, however, the many-coloured radiance 
of the New Jerusalem, the flashing jewellery of the high 
priest's breastplate, which was fashioned according to the 
pattern seen by Moses in the Mount, and the fact that 
all colours are symbolic of Divine excellences in the 
Lord, and of human excellences as received by man 
from the Lord, who can doubt that the raiment of the 
angels is varied in form and beautiful in colour, as though 
dipped in a bath of rainbows, their hues being as much 
more intense as the light of heaven surpasses that of 
earth? According to the functions they perform, their 



2i6 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



continuance in any one state, the superiority of their 
wisdom, and the inner glory of their love, so, correspond- 
ingly, is the manner and colour of their robes. God, who 
has painted with wondrous tints the flowers of the field, the 
plumage of birds, and the iridescent scales of fishes ; who 
has fixed in precious stones pure and lustrous hues, made 
them to flicker in the opal, and to tremble along the surface 
of the pearl; who has caused the sunrise and the sunset to 
fling many-hued glories over the cloud-land which it re- 
visits, or from which it departs, — who has implanted in 
human hearts the love of colour, and compelled men to 
associate the idea of colour with all perfect conceptions 
of beauty, — He has thus prepared the human mind to 
appreciate as well as admire the transcendent tints of 
heavenly things. The pearly whites and greys, the glorious 
crimsons and ambers, the tender purples and greens 
which are painted on the face of the natural heavens, are 
but intimations by correspondence of the more wondrous 
and dazzling realities of the spiritual heavens, which the 
natural heavens do only foreshadow and typify." 

" I can heartily accept this," I said. " Now, if you 
please, a word as to spiritual habitations." 

Spiritual Habitations. 

" A heavenly city without habitations would be a con- 
tradiction," rejoined Dokeos. "Hence the Lord said, 
6 In My Fathers house are many mansions.' The millions 
of heavenly inhabitants without homes would be only a 
promiscuous concourse. ' Home ' is the earthly synonym 
of heaven. The invariable law of the whole spiritual 
world, however, is that such as is the character of the 
soul, such, correspondingly, must be the character of its 
spiritual house. The house of the soul is produced 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 217 

directly from the Lord according to this universal law. 
Hence we are told that Abraham 6 looked for a city 
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is 
God' (Heb. xi. 10). The Apostle also assures us that 
'We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens ' (2 Cor. v. 1). 
This 6 house' immediately refers to the spiritual body of 
the saved ; but, as the terms imply, it involves a further 
reference to the house which the spiritual body will itself 
inhabit and occupy. There is a perfect conformity, or, 
as we style it, con-espondence, between the character of the 
soul and its house, in both senses. The spiritual body 
of the angel is the perfect type in beauty of the special 
virtue or grace that predominates in him ; and his home 
will be only a larger and more exterior counterpart of 
his inmost character. 

" Hence, in the World of Spirits, there is every variety 
of house, some deformed and even filthy, some beautiful, 
but all imperfect, as compared with the habitations of 
angels. As the spirits change from their mixed state, so 
their habitations change. They 6 go from house to 
house.' Their eternal home will be a mansion in heaven; 
or a hovel, a cave, or a prison in hell." 

" This kind of teaching, Dokeos," I remarked, " makes 
the spiritual world to seem very substantial and very 
real." 

The Law of the Spiritual World. 

" The spiritual world is both," returned Sophos. " It 
is as substantial as the natural world, and for each 
inhabitant far more abiding. It is so real that the spirits 
who dwell there could not refrain from smiling if they 



2l8 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO 



were told that they were 'only shadows inhabiting a 
shadowy world.' The laws which govern that world are 
different from those which govern the grosser material 
of earth. Transformations, which in the realm of nature 
are slow, in the realm of spirit are immediate ; yet they 
are ever produced according to law. The law may be 
expressed : — All the subjective states of the soul, or of 
associated souls, are projected i?ito corresponding external 
forms, and become objects of sight, touch, taste, scent, or 
hearing. These external forms are permanent or evane- 
scent, their appearances are stable or changing, being 
added to, modified, or taken from, according as the 
particulars in the state of the soul, to which they exactly 
correspond, are abiding or changing." 

" But this is Idealism," I exclaimed. " It is what 
Berkeley and others have affirmed of the material world." 

" There was their error," replied Sophos. " They dis- 
cerned what, to some extent, was the necessary law as to 
mind; and they pretended that this was also the law as 
to matter. Their theory as to mind and spiritual things 
was, in a great measure, true : their application of this 
theory to matter was a fallacy. Matter as distinctly 
exists apart from mind, as mind exists apart from matter. 
They ignored the distinction, and confusion was the 
necessary consequence." 

"We need not discuss that point, Sophos," I observed. 
" I am too much attracted to other matters. The cloth- 
ing, food, and habitations of spirits in the World of 
Spirits, then, are furnished, as Dokeos says, from the Lord, 
according to correspondence. There must necessarily be 
order and arrangement among them, and as all of them 
have not the principles of order developed within them- 
selves, the government must come from without How, 
then, are they arranged and governed ? " 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



219 



Arrangement and Government. 

" I have told you/ replied Dokeos, " that eveiy spirit 
enters at birth into some society of spirits, according to 
the inborn intellectual character of the child, which, 
although latent and undeveloped, is certainly in the 
child's hereditary nature; that such societies in the World 
of Spirits are connected with corresponding societies in 
the heavens, and likewise with partially corresponding 
societies in the hells. (Concerning the plurality of the 
heavens we shall speak presently.) When a man dies 
he enters consciously into the society in the World of 
Spirits to which he belongs ; if he ascends thence to 
either of the heavens, he ascends in the line of his 
society : if he sinks into any of the hells, he sinks in the 
line of his society. Hence, all the spirits in each society 
are governed by the angels of that society. It is the 
ideal of all human governments, a real aristocracy, the 
domination of the best. The fittest to govern rules. 
Who decides on this fitness ? Not the governors — they 
might easily misjudge : not the governed — how could 
they judge? The Lord appoints to each his duty 
according to the ability of each; or rather, each falls 
inevitably into his place, and into his use in that place. 
His use and his fitness for the use are seen, recognised, 
and admitted by all. No angel desires power or 
authority ; any angel would prefer another before him- 
self; but those whose gift it is, lead; those whose true 
place it is, submit ; and the joy of each is full." 

" Is the authority of the rulers in the World of Spirits 
never challenged ? " I asked. 

" Yes. Eut the inevitable law of the spiritual world is 
that love conjoins, and aversion separates. Those who 
internally avert themselves actually turn away ; they 



220 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



remove themselves, seeking their like. There are spirits 
there who would fain set up empires that they might 
govern ; who persuade others to submit to them for a 
little while, and who would, if possible, foment rebellion 
and revolution. They sink continually into their real, 
their interior state : burning with the lust of dominion, 
their predominant evil, they become devils, and seek to 
make slaves in hell. I must repeat that during the whole 
period of sojourn in the world of spirits, the process 
of judgment, of exploration and vastation, continually 
advances. Men rise or sink into real harmony with 
their interior loves. The principle which animates all 
angelic rulers is the love of serving ; and governing is no 
more than the kind of ministration which some are best 
fitted to perform. Even on earth you retain the idea, and 
those who really rule are by you called 6 Ministers of 
State : ' wisely regarded, they are the servants of society, 
ministering for the common good, performing thus ser- 
vices of a high and important character. The love of 
power is unknown among the angels : the affection 
which rules there is the love of use. The principle of 
selection is the choice of the fittest to do the work." 

" If society could only know wisely how to choose the 
best ! I exclaimed. 

"Choice on earth is necessarily an experiment," re- 
joined Dokeos. "But there is this consolation — the 
form of government which each nation has either chosen, 
or to which it continues to submit, is the best that the 
state of the nation will allow of. Forms of government 
must become modified along with the changes of the 
national condition, or they will inevitably be overthrown. 
The contrarieties which exist on earth are needful for 
affording to the people opportunities of choice, and the 
formation of their voluntary character. This is man's 
great task on earth. In the World of Spirits, he throws 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 22 x 

off all that is not in agreement with that voluntary char- 
acter. The process of formation, therefore, is followed 
by a process of uncovering. The final homes of all men 

1 will be the full embodiment, in all things that surround 

I them, of the state which is theirs and complete images of 
which they are.'' 

" You have spoken of the general government of 
spirits in the World of Spirits, and you have also spoken 
of their habitations, — have they any social, or domestic 

I life?" I asked. 

" Your question," rejoined Dokeos, " introduces us to 
a most interesting group of topics, concerning sex, and 

1 the relation of the sexes in the spiritual world. In dis- 
cussing these subjects, I need hardly request you to 
banish from your mind all gross and unworthy thoughts. 
The greatest proof of the reality of man's Fall is furnished 
in the fact that he thinks impurely concerning intrin- 
sically holy things. All Divine arrangements, whether 
in heaven or on earth, are pure, because God is pure. 
The first point to be settled is — 

" 4 Have Spirits and Angels Sex?' 

" What reasons can you urge why spirits and angels 
should be destitute of sex ?" 

"There is something sensual and impure connected 
with the idea of sex, and sexual relations," I replied, 
"and that is my first objection. In the second place, 
there is no hint given in the Scriptures that angels are 
either masculine or feminine. In the third place, the 
Saviour teaches that there is neither marriage nor giving 
in marriage in heaven, leading us to infer that the 
feelings which prompt to marriage cannot there be 
experienced. You have also asserted as a principle, that 
\ the existence of organs imply functions : as the functions 



1 



I 

222 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 

of marriage are not performed, I conclude that the angels 
are sexless. So again, it is said that the 144,000 sealed 
ones ' were not denied with women, for they are virgins 1 
(Rev. xii. 4) ; thus implying that virginity is the order of 
heaven. Although our Saviour's human body was un- 
doubtedly masculine, He having been circumcised on the 
eighth day, yet He was virgin and unmarried, and in j 
this isolation ascended above all the heavens : if the 
state of the angels at all resembles His state, they, 
too, will be unmarried. These are the chief of my 
objections." 

"They deserve careful consideration," rejoined Dokeos. 
" You must perceive, however, that your argument con- 
fuses two distinct topics — that of sex, and that of 
marriage. For the purpose of clear understanding, it 
will be well to keep these topics separate. Allow me, 
therefore, to ask you a few questions." 

"Willingly." 

"What is that which determines the form of the | 
body?" 

" Its parentage : like produces like," I replied. 

"But my question is more specific. Both male and 
female children are offspring of human parents. What is 
that which determines the form of the body as to sex ? " 

" I do not know," I answered. " Physiologists admit 1 
that it is a mystery." 

" Bodies, however, are never born of one sex, and | 
then, after birth, change to the other sex. Sex, therefore, 
from its germinal condition, is a fixed fact in the body. 
Yet so soon as the spirit is separated from the body, 
the latter begins to decompose, and its form becomes 
obliterated. What was it, then, which retained to the 
body its specific form ; and by adjunction to which its 
substances remained combined in a human body?" 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



" Evidently the spirit which dwelt in the body retained 
to it its' form," I replied. 

" But if the spirit retained to the body its specific form 
as to sex, was it not the spirit which originally deter- 
mined what sex the body should be of? " asked Dokeos. 

" But this would lead to the conclusion that sex must 
be primarily in the soul," I observed. 

"True," answered Dokeos, "and to this conclusion 
we must come. Nothing can exist in the effect which 
does not primarily exist in the cause that produced the 
effect. If form be in the body, and is retained to the 
body by adjunction to the spirit, and is lost by the body 
so soon as disjoined from the spirit, it must be the form 
of the spirit which determined the form of the body. 
But to impart form, the spirit must possess form ; and to 
impart the human form, it must possess the human form; 
and to impart form as to sex, it must possess a sexual 
form ; for nothing can bestow on another thing what it 
does not itself possess. Reasoning thus from the effect, 
the material body, to its cause, the spiritual organism, we 
must conclude that sex is in the spirit." 

" But this line of reasoning would prove that inasmuch 
as God is the Great First Cause, sex must exist in Him," 
1 urged. 

" I admit it," replied Dokeos. " All things which God 
has made must spiritually or materially shadow forth and 
represent something which exists Divinely in Him. We 
shall presently say something of that in the Deity which 
is represented by sex in the things which He has made. 
For the moment we must think of man. We previously 
saw that all spirits and angels proceeded from the human 
race : all members of the human family have had sex • 
but sex is from the spirit, and thence derivatively in the 
body ; is it not reasonable to conclude then, that the 



224 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



spirit after it has entered fully and consciously into the 
spiritual state or world, retains the sex which it possessed 
from the beginning?" 

" If sex really exist in the soul, then, inasmuch as death 
is only the putting off of the outer case, or fleshly en- 
velope, the body, it is not unreasonable to so conclude," 
I answered. 

" One who has been a man in the natural world will 
continue to be a man there : one who was a woman here 
will be a woman there," resumed Dokeos. " How else 
would the consciousness of identity be preserved ? How 
else could those who had been married partners on earth 
hope to recognise and to remain with their married 
partners in the spiritual world ? How else could parents 
hope to recognise their children, or children their 
parents? Sex will undoubtedly be preserved in the 
features, and in the general characteristics of the form, 
why should it be otherwise abolished?" 

" But all this is contingent upon the idea that sex is 
primarily in the soul. On this point I am not quite 
clear," I rejoined. 

Sophos replied to me. " You will admit that the whole 
body of a man or woman is homogeneous, and therefore 
sexually characteristic. The distinction as to sex per- 
vades every part of the physical structure. It betrays 
itself in the roundness and plumpness of the female 
figure, in the smoothness and delicacy of her skin, and 
in the superior fineness of her nervous system. It de- 
termines the general form, and the consequent arrange- 
ment of the suppositious triangle, which in man has 
the base in his shoulders and the apex downwards, and 
in woman has the base across the hips and the apex up- 
wards. Sex also evinces itself in the arrangements of 
the mammary glands, in the more slender muscles, lighter 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 225 



bones, sloping shoulders, beardless face, relatively 
shorter stature, and the tone of the vofce. Woman is 
not, as some physiologists affirm, ' an undeveloped man,' a 
being whose pre-natal development toward manhood was 
arrested at a certain point She is constitutionally 
diverse from man. The distinction of sex is thus indi- 
cated in everything connected with the bodies of both 
sexes. As Dokeos has urged : this distinction must 
exist in the soul, the formative cause of the body, and 
which retains to the body, and to all things which pertain 
to it, its characteristic form. To deny this would land 
you in the absurdity, that something exists in the effect 
of which there was no cause. 

"But, further, the distinctions of sex may be traced in 
the character of the minds of man and woman. Both 
possess an affectional and also an intellectual nature ; but 
who knows not that the predominant characteristic of 
the male is intellect rather than affection j while in the 
female, the predominant characteristic is affection rather 
than intellect ? Both sexes possess intellect and affection, 
but each of these severally predominates in the man and 
in the woman. The sphere of activity appropriate to 
each sex is thus indicated. The history of both sexes 
abundantly illustrates the distinction. No woman has 
ever attained an equal eminence in science, literature, 
philosophy or art, with man. Even in music, the female 
intellect has never been equally creative with that of man. 
Again : no woman ever invented a labour-saving machine. 
Her originality, or inventiveness, as it is called, has not 
been displayed in a matter she has always had the control 
over, as cooking ; or in the production of new contrivances 
to supersede or facilitate her own special occupations, as 
spinning, weaving, or sewing. Man is the inventor, 
j the creator. Woman has abundantly surpassed men in 



226 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



intensity of devotion, in whole-souled self-sacrifice, in 
the fidelity of conjugal and parental affection. Where 
women have excelled in more masculine studies, she has 
been incited thereto by the love of man's wisdom, rather 
than by the love of wisdom for its own sake." 

" But are there no exceptions to such a wide-sweeping 
rule?" I asked. 

" There may be. But in affirming that such are 
exceptional cases, you assert and prove the rule,'' re- 
turned Sophos. " We cannot argue a point like this 
from the exceptions. Many of those seeming exceptions 
would only confirm the rule, if all the circumstances were 
fully known. There are a few many-sided men, who 
have attained great eminence in many departments of 
study and labour ; and there are a few many-sided 
women, who appear to combine an extraordinary amount 
of intellectual power with their affectional energy ; yet 
even in these exceptional cases the intellect predominates 
in the male, and affection predominates in the female. 
Their works betray the sex of the worker. Is not 
'woman' written legibly in all the literary, artistic, or 
even scientific works which women have wrought? The 
specific character of the producer is stamped upon the 
production ; and one of the greatest moulders of character 
is sex. A few women may possess bass voices, but such 
are only few : the register and timbre of the female voice 
are not more fixed than are her other characteristics. 

"We must, however, take higher ground in the study 
of sex. The existence of sex in mankind is not a new 
principle first introduced with mankind into creation : it 
is only an additional illustration of a principle that is 
omnipresent in creation. Everything that the Lord has 
made is either sexual or typical of sex. The law of sex 
dominates all animated nature : naturalists are obliged to 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



227 



observe the invariable distinction. The same law neces- 
sarily determines the classification of all things of the 
vegetable kingdom. The world itself is broadly dis- 
tinguished into land and water. You can think of no- 
thing that is not either active or passive, an agent or a 
reagent, a giver or a recipient. The force which you call 
electricity, in all its multiforms, is either positive or 
negative. The dualism which may be everywhere traced 
in the creation of God is inevitable ; it bisects all nature. 
All sources of fecundity are to be found in marriage, or 
what is the type of marriage, which in the most general 
terms may be denned as the united action of an active 
agent, and the reaction of a passive agent." 

"Whence does this dualism proceed?" I asked. 

" It proceeds from the dualism which is in the Divine 
Nature, Love and Wisdom, which unite in the Divine 
Power or Operation," rejoined Sophos. "The being 
who stands as the masterpiece of God's creation most 
fully embodies and illustrates the universal law. The 
inevitable dualism is perceptible in man's spiritual con- 
stitution, Will and Understanding, which unite in every 
mental operation which man performs. It is visible in 
his dual constitution while on earth, Soul and Body, 
which unite in every physical operation which he per- 
forms. It is further traceable in the two hemispheres of 
his brain, in the pairs of organs which he possesses, and 
in every single organ which also is divided into two halves 
united by the medial line, and both sides of which com- 
bine in every act. It is still more clearly indicated in 
the distinction of mankind into male and female, or, as 
the Latins expressed it, the distinction of homo into vir 
and niulier. Sex is thus a universal representative fact, 
because it primarily exists in the Divine Nature. The 
Divine prototypes of sex, of which Dokeos spoke, are the 



228 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



Divine Wisdom and Love, the Divine Intelligence and 
Will. In Him these essentials are perfectly united ; and 
human pairs were created that they might severally 
receive their special and appropriate gift, and by true 
spiritual union, that they together might form, as it were, 
one angel. 

" Here, then, we have at once the origin of sex and 
the Divine purpose and .intention of marriage. The two 
sexes supplement and complement each other. If in 
marriage man is the intellectual part, the head; woman 
is the affectional part, the heart. Each sex without the 
other is relatively deficient and incomplete ; only in true 
soul-marriage can human fulness and perfection be found. 
The same invariable dualism pervades the Christian 
religion, which is a system of love and faith, uniting in 
good works. Both love and faith are essential to the 
Christian life ; and they alone are prolific in the bringing 
forth of spiritual fruit, that is, in spiritual productive 
power, in whose soul this sacred marriage of goodness 
and truth, of charity and faith, of love and wisdom, has 
been consummated." 

" You remind me," I remarked, " of some exquisite lines 
by a modern poet : — 

' Woman is not undeveloped man, 

But diverse ; could we make her as the man 

Sweet love were slain : his dearest bond is this, 

Not like to like, but like in difference. 

Yet in the long years liker must they grow ; 

The man be more of woman ; she of man ; 

He gain in sweetness and in moral height, 

Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world ; 

She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care, — 

Not lose the child-like in the larger mind ; 

Till at the last, she set herself to man, 

Like perfect music unto noble words."' * 

* Tennyson, The Princess. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 229 

" The words are beautiful because they are true," re- 
joined Sophos. " But the prototypes of sex being thus 
primarily in the Divine Nature, and sex being representa- 
tively in all things which God has made, and being 
derivatively in the soul, and thence descending into the 
body, must not sex and the symbols of sex be eternal ? 
I see not how this can be answered negatively. It, 
therefore, follows that the spirits of men and women have 
sex j that there are both male and female angels, who 
were on earth men and women, and who retain in 
I heaven all that belonged to them as sexually distinguished 
human beings in the natural world. 

"Another consequence follows on this reasoning. In- 
asmuch as the distinction of sex is the representative 
image of a Divine prototype, and is universally implanted 
in creation, is it not disparaging to the purity and wisdom 
of God, to say, as you said, that there is something 
necessarily impure in the distinctions of sex?" 

" I am properly rebuked, Sophos," I replied. " You 
have enlarged and enlightened my thought. But is there 
any hint given in the Word as to the sexuality of angels ?" 

Sophos waved his hand to Dokeos to answer my ques- 
tion. He said, " If it were true that the Scriptures fur- 
nish no hint as to the sexuality of angels, the Scriptures 
would then furnish no denial of the proposition that 
angels possess sex. But it is not safe to be over-confident 
as to the silence of the Scriptures on this point. Angels 
are therein spoken of as men. One angel is spoken of 
as a ' Man of God' (Judges xiii.). In all passages refer- 
ring to the appearances of angls, the pronouns he and 
him are employed, thus indicating sex. The reason why 
male angels are only spoken of in the Word, is because 
the ministering uses performed by those angels who have 
appeared to men were suited to the genius and character 



230 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



of male angels. We must assert, then, that these angels 
were, what they are designated, men. Must we thence 
conclude that there are no women in heaven — that no 
woman is saved ? Surely you obj ect to that inference. Or 
must we conclude that all the women who enter into heaven 
are previously transformed into men ? Such a transfor- 
mation defies definition. Or must we conclude then, that, 
after all, the angels who are styled 'men' are not men; 
but that they, and also all women, who enter into heaven, 
are transformed into neuter nondescripts as to sex ?" 

" I am perplexed by your reasoning, Dokeos," I re- 
joined. 

" If sex does not exist in heaven, certainly the idea of 
sex is not abolished," continued Dokeos ; " for if only 
one thing would preserve the idea, the ' marriage-supper 
of the Lamb/ which takes place in heaven, would sub- 
serve that purpose ! The Church being the ' Bride, the 
Lamb's Wife,' would preserve the idea. But, further, the 
Apostle John saw in the World of Spirits a representation 
of the Church, ' a woman clothed with the sun, and the 
moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
twelve stars' (Rev. xii. i) ; he likewise saw a representa- 
tion of the mystic Babylon, ' a woman who sat on a scarlet 
beast,' and ' upon her forehead a name written, Mystery, 
Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abomina- 
tions of the Earth' (Rev. xviii. 1-5). May not these 
representative women whom John saw be regarded as 
proofs that women exist in the spiritual world as well as 
men." 

" They are at least proofs that the idea of womanhood 
exists there," I answered. 

" If the idea exists there, and all ideas are there 
exteriorly represented, woman must herself exist there," 
rejoined Dokeos. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



231 



I was silent. 

" But you said that there is something sensual and 
impure connected with the idea of sex," resumed Dokeos. 
" In addition to the general argument which Sophos has 
urged, other considerations will show how fallacious is 
this opinion. When God formed man in His own image, 
as we read, — 6 in the image of God created He him ; 
male and female created He them,' was there anything 
sensual and impure connected with the idea of sex? 
I Man and woman severally typified and embodied the 
Divine characteristics which unitedly existed in the 
nature of their archetype. If sex was sensual and im- 
pure in the types it must have been sensual and impure 
in the Divine Prototype. But we dare not so conclude. 
Consequently the idea of sex is not sensual or im- 
pure." 

" I ought to have restricted my statement to the sexual 
relation," I observed. 

" That restriction will not avail you," rejoined Dokeos. 
" Organs imply functions. The existence of sex of neces- 
sity implies sexual relations. This relation was manifestly 
referred to in the first blessing pronounced on mankind 
by the Infinite Purity — ' And God blessed them, and God 
said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish 
the earth, and subdue it' (Gen. i. 27, 28). Marriage is a 
holy institution: it was appointed by God, who is in- 
finitely holy ! It was He who saw that among all living 
creatures there was no help meet for man ; it was He 
who formed the woman, and brought her to the man ; it 
was He who taught the man to say 6 This is now bone of 
my bones and flesh of my flesh/ and also to utter the pro- 
phetic injunction — ' therefore shall a man leave father 
and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall 
i be one flesh 7 (Gen. ii. 18-24). Whatever is essential to 



232 WHAT DO THE AX GELS DO? 



marriage, therefore, is the appointment of God. Can we 
venture to declare of what God has instituted that it is 
sensual and impure ?" 

I bowed my head and was silent. 

" It is not sex, or the sexual relation, that is impure." 
resumed Dokeos ; " but the uncleanness and iniquity of 
men have associated with such matters impure thoughts. 
Vice has corrupted the purity of marriage, and has denied 
its inner sanctuary. Because sex and the sexual relation 
were so holy, the perversions of true order in such respects 
have become so abominable. The fall has been so ter- 
rible," because the height of sexual purity from which men 
have fallen was so lofty. Angelic chastity has been per- 
verted into infernal licentiousness. The difficulty which 
all experience of thinking purely concerning sex and the 
sexual relation is only a lamentable proof of how universal 
is the fall. Marriage is the most holy relationship which 
can exist between two human beings. 

u But I observe," continued Dokeos, " that you link 
together two words which are not necessarily associated. 
You say that there is something ' sensual and impure' in 
the idea of sexuality : do you mean that all which is 
sensual, or which pertains to the senses, is impure 

" My expression certainly involved such a meaning," 
I replied. 

" See how fallacious is such an association of ideas," 
rejoined Dokeos. " Men before the fall had senses, 
and these were gratified. Angels have such senses, and 
which are gratified with appropriate delights. There is a 
life, an activity of the senses, which is orderly ; for the 
sensual part of human nature is as truly the creation of 
God as its intellectual or its voluntary part. It is only 
because this part of man's nature has been made supreme, 
and has rushed into all manner of evils, that the idea of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DOf 



233 



impurity has become associated with it. The sensual 
thoughts of men need to be elevated. The serpent, the 
symbol of the sensual part of man's nature, must in 
every man be ' lifted up in the wilderness ' through which 
human life has to toil and struggle, in order that they 
whom the serpents are destroying may look up and 
I live ! 

" The essential sanctity of sex and the essential holi- 
ness of marriage may be further estimated from the 
wondrous result which ensues from them — the creation 
through human parents of an immortal soul, a potential 
heir to the kingdom of heaven. All other forms of 
human production rightly seem insignificant when com- 
pared with this. Were a child to be born only once in 
a century, and then under the most rare combination of 
circumstances, the wisest would marvel at the amazing 
offspring of married love. The fact that 6 the mother s 
miracle' is so common does not diminish its intrinsic 
marvellousness. Sex and marriage are the Divinely- 
appointed means whereby the earth is peopled, and 
made to be the seminary of heaven. I dare not then 
stigmatize as essentially impure that which God has 
appointed to be the only means of achieving so high an 
end!" 

" I was wrong, Dokeos," I rejoined. " You remind 
me of the fine words of a modern poet, who calls on the 
moon to 

' Touch with shade the bridal door, 

With tender gloom the roof, the wall, 

And breaking let the splendour fall 
To spangle all the happy shore 
By which they rest, and ocean sounds : 

And, star and system rolling past, 

A soul shall draw from out the vast, 
And strike his being into bounds, 



234 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 



And, moved through life of lower phase, 

Result in man, be born and think, 

And act, and love, a closer link 
Betwixt us and the crowning race.' * 

You have satisfied me that marriage is holy, that there- 
fore sex is holy. It is sin which has defiled our notions 
as to sex and the sexual relation ; and which has there- 
fore predisposed us to banish sex from our conceptions 
of heaven." 

" To impress the holiness of marriage, and of all 
things connected with marriage, on the Jews," resumed 
Dokeos, " God gave them minute directions as to unclean- 
ness, instituted the sacrifice which the new-made mother 
had to offer, and declared that every first-born male 
should be consecrated to Him. Thus was preserved in 
the world the idea of marital purity, which even the per- 
mission of polygamy, allowed to the Jews because of the 
hardness of their hearts, has not been able to destroy." 

Marriages in the Spiritual World. 

" Yet marriage is an earthly institution," I urged. " I 
admit that to Adam and Eve there could have been 
nothing obnoxious in the idea of there being angelic 
men and women, or even in the idea of such men and 
women being united in marriage in heaven, because 
they had not come to associate any save pure and ele- 
vated ideas with sex and the sexual relation. Still, the 
statement of the Lord as to there being no marriage or 
giving in marriage in heaven seems to declare, that if the 
sexes exist in heaven, they do not marry. I abandon 
the argument as to essential impurity in sex and the 
sexual relation. I am willing to concede even that there 

* Tennyson's Epithalamium, at the end of In Memoriam. 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



235 



must be male and female angels ; for I cannot conceive 
of any process by which sexual characteristics can be 
obliterated. Yet the possession of sex does not of 
necessity assert that the sexes are married. Jesus, 
though a man, was unmarried. He also speaks of some 
who are born eunuchs, and some who have made them 
selves eunuchs for the kingdom of God's sake (Matt. xix. 
12); immediately afterwards, He significantly blessed little 
children, who certainly do not marry ; and declared that 
unless His disciples became as little children, they could 
not enter the kingdom of God. He likewise placed a 
little child in the midst of His disciples as an example 
of those who were greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 
And finally, the Word declares that the 144,000 sealed 
had not been defiled with women, for they were virgins. 
Do not these facts make out a strong case against mar- 
riages in heaven ?" 

" The arguments are plausible, and demand a careful 
examination," rejoined Dokeos. " The Lord, while on 
earth, did not discountenance marriage. He declared 
that 6 He who made them at the beginning made them 
male and female;' He ascribes to God the prophetic 
injunction attributed in Genesis to Adam ; He added to 
it the impressive command, ' What therefore God hath 
joined together let not man put asunder' (Matt. xix. 6). 
He thus asserted the sanctity of marriage in the most 
solemn manner; that God joins together truly married 
partners; and, further, that such marriages are indis- 
soluble." 

" Yet death divides even those whom God hath 
joined," I urged. 

" Yes ; for a little while," replied Dokeos. " But in 
the very nature of things, such will yearn for each other's 
society, will seek each other, the one who dies first will 



236 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



await the coming of the earthly survivor, and when at 
length they meet — .for they will meet — there will be a 
closer and more intimate union, a deeper love between 
them than is possible between either of them and any 
other being. Such spiritual union, such a clinging inti- 
macy, such inmost association and fellowship of feelings 
and thoughts, is the marriage of angels. God hath joined 
them together by indissoluble bonds ; death, like a tem- 
porary journey which one of them may need to make in 
advance of the other, may separate them for a little 
while ; but even death cannot keep them asunder, since 
both have to die ! Such heart-union can subsist only 
between two, and those of different sex. The interior 
life of no human being or angel is complete until they 
have felt such a drawing forth of all the love potencies of 
their nature ; until the male has found the female who 
can become the love of his wisdom ; or until the female 
can find the male who can be the wisdom of her love ; 
and both helps meet for each other, can become together 
one in the Lord." 

" If the conception of marriage in the spiritual world 
extends no farther than such heart-unions, I can see that 
they are inevitable, and heavenly," I rejoined. 

" Such a heart-union is the essential of marriage," re- 
plied Dokeos. "True marriage cannot exist without 
such a perfect oneness of feeling and thought, such an 
intimate union of wisdom and love. The sordid associa- 
tions of earth are not marriage : they are concubinage 
legitimatized by the customs of society. If, then, the 
spiritual essentials of marriage can and must exist in 
heaven, and if, therefore, sex is an eternal fact, and if 
such soul-unions can take place only between two angels, 
and those of different sex, ultimations of the internal 
affection will inevitably follow. Such marriages are God- 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 237 



made, because such lovers are joined together by God. 
Such marriages are also indissoluble, for all that God 
does has respect to eternity. In heaven every orderly 
form of love will be triumphant ; but the most prolific, 
interior, and sacred of loves is that which can subsist 
only between married partners; therefore marriage-unions 
and marriage-love must be possible in heaven." 

" As a philosophic idea, it does not seem unreasonable," 
I answered ; " but what are we to do with the opposing 
arguments ? The Saviour held a sweet intimacy with the 
sisters of Lazarus at Bethany, yet He was unmarried ! " 

Sophos answered me. " Jesus Christ was God mani- 
fest in the flesh. In His Divine nature love and wisdom 
are infinitely united : they twain are one. All forms and 
modes of love come from Him as their Divine original 
and source. Married love, as to its essentials, is the 
union in one man and one woman, whether human or 
angelic, of wisdom in the male and love in the female ; 
thus symbolizing the infinite union of love and wisdom in 
God. But God in Christ has not left Himself wifeless : 
the Church is His ' Bride and Wife ; ' He is the Giver ; 
and the Church receives His gifts ; He is the Divine 
Active Power, and the Church furnishes the passive or 
re-active plane. The union between Christ and His 
Church is thus a second sanction and prototype of mar- 
riage. This union is an eternal union, and the marriage 
of individual angels, which represents this sacred cove- 
nant, must also be an eternal marriage." 

" But the union between the Lord and His Church is 
mystical, while the marriage unions of angels you repre- 
sent as real," I objected. 

" True," rejoined Sophos. " Angels exist on the same 
plane, they are alike in the form and composition of 
their spiritual bodies ; they were created sexually distinct 



233 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



as to their character in all things that they might become 
one. The Lord and the Church exist on different planes, 
and the union that can subsist between them is that of 
reciprocal love; the down-flowing of life and joy from 
the Lord, and the up-looking to the Lord of the Church. 
The two unions are analogous, not identical. Yet by 
such an analogy, the Lord has presented a new sanction 
and type of marriage ; which, because it most completely 
symbolizes the highest union, that of love and wisdom in 
God, is the highest form of union that men or angels can 
know and realise." 

" Why could not the union of angels with angels be 
mystical, as is the union of angels and the Lord?" I 
asked. 

"For the reason already given," replied Sophos, "they 
exist on the same plane : and for this further reason, that 
the reality of their unions is the source of a more in- 
tense and vivid happiness than could result from a mysti- 
cal union merely. The joy of each angel is thus doubled 
— the joy of the mystical conjunction with the Lord, who 
is above all, and the joy of the communion with his 
soul- wife, or her soul-husband, who dwells on the same 
plane." 

" But why are they not celibate ? 93 I asked. 

" Would depriving the angels of the possibility of all 
the interior harmony, love, tenderness, confidence, and 
blessedness, which alone are to be found and realised in 
genuine soul-marriage, increase the joy of heaven, or 
diminish it?" demanded Sophos. 

"I cannot say that such a deprivation would increase 
their joy," I replied. 

"But the joy of the angels is full ! Surely, then, this 
fountain of blessedness, the love-union of two souls who 
were Divinely fashioned to be the eternal complement 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 239 

and therefore the eternal companion of each other, will 
not be denied to the angels. Those who had begun to 

| experience the earthly dawnings of such a love and joy- 
could never be fully satisfied in heaven without its re- 
newal, its continuance, and its increase." 

" But the Lord set up a little child as the pattern of 
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven," I urged, " and 
they are celibate." 

"Children are in the innocence of ignorance," rejoined 

I Sophos ; " but because they are innocent they were used 
by the Lord to symbolize the innocence of wisdom, that 
mature innocence which has known the assaults of evil 
and has triumphed. Surely you will not say that the 
Lord meant that men are to return to the ignorance of 
childhood, in order that they might regain the innocence 
of childhood ! Two types of innocence are employed 
in the Word, the lamb and the little child : the lamb 
represents innocence that is external, such as that of 
childhood really is ; the little child represents the inter- 
nal innocence of wisdom, such as that of the angels. 
The Lord's invitation to the little children to come unto 
Him, therefore, includes all who are in innocence, 
whether they be infants or adults, in the innocence of 
ignorance, or in the higher innocence of wisdom. To 
wish men to become as lambs, or as little children, is 
not enjoining them to become lambs or children ! The 
celibacy of children is the result of their immaturity : in 
heaven angels will increase in. the maturity of spiritual, 
development for ever." 

"But the 144,000 sealed were virgins, they had not 
been defiled with women — were they not celibate ?" I 
urged. 

" Was the marriage-union of Adam and Eve in Eden 
a defilement of either?" asked Sophos. "Does the 



240 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 

marriage of those whom God hath joined together defile 
the husband or the wife ? Surely not : marriage is holy, 
not defiling! What, then, is meant by the statement 
that these sealed ones were the undefiled, the virgins ? 

" Do you not remember what we said as to the sons 
of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, 
and choosing them wives ? Women in the Word repre- j 
sent affections : when spoken of in a good sense, women 
denote good affections of all kinds; when spoken of in 
a bad sense, women denote evil affections of all kinds. 
When it is said that these sealed ones were not defiled 
with women, it is meant that the saved in heaven had 
not committed spiritual adultery or fornication by cherish- i 
ing or dallying with evil. When it is said that they were 
virgins, it is meant that they had kept pure from the evil, 
and loved the Lord above all things with a virgin heart. 
Whether married or unmarried, young or old, male or 
female, all may in this sense be among the undefiled, 
virgins unto the Lord, members of His Church, the | 
Lamb's Bride and Wife. The promises made in the 
Word to the virgins of Israel and Judah, the virgin 
daughters of Zion and the virgins of Jerusalem, or ' the 
virgin daughter of my people/ are not intended to apply 
solely to women, or to the unmarried. The Lord likened 
all the Church to ten virgins : surely He did not thereby 
exclude all the married ! A virgin heart, spiritually 
betrothed to the Lord, may be found in one who is a 
husband or a wife, as also it may be found in one who 
is unmarried. The characteristic of these virgins is that 
* they follow the Lord whithersoever He goeth F All true 
followers of the Lord who have kept their hearts pure 
from evil loves are the undefiled, the virgin members of 
the Lord's Bride. 

" Because the Lord is the Divine Bridegroom and 



I 

WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 241 

Husband of His Church, the Word employs terms which 
pertain to human marriage to express various spiritual 
relations of man to the Lord : spiritual marriage is thus 
conjunction with the Lord ; spiritual fornication and 
adultery express unfaithfulness to the Divine Bridegroom, 
wandering away from the Lord after other impure and 
opposing affections ; the internal states of the Jews and 
Samaritans were depicted by Ezekiel under the terrible 
description of two harlots, Aholah and Aholibah ; the 
! Jews were characterized by the Lord as a wicked and 
j adulterous generation; the promise to Abraham of an 
innumerable posterity denotes the unending increase 
within the souls of the regenerate and of the angels of 
knowledges of truth and good affections, which are repre- 
sented as spiritual sons and daughters ; the genealogical 
tables in the Word, interiorly understood, describe the 
! process and order of spiritual parentage, resulting in the 
specific truth or good affection denoted by the last name 
in the series. Just as you might describe the intellectual 
process of reasoning and inquiry which had prepared 
your mind for the inception of a final conclusion, and 
might mark off and name the completed stages of the 
process, so the Word describes, as genealogies, succeeding 
states resulting in the state which terminates the series. 
The basis of this important group of correspondences is 
sex and the sexual relation. Abolish these latter, and 
the angels would fail to comprehend the references there- 
to in the Word ! " 

" You deeply interest me, Sophos, by this mode of 
opening the Scriptures," I remarked. " How do you 
meet the difficulty presented in the statement of the Lord 
that in heaven they neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage ? " 

" The meaning of the Lord's words immediately per- 

Q 

If 
II 
I 

I 



242 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 

tinent to the Sadducee's question was, that in heaven 
there were no such unions as they had mistakenly digni- 
fied by the holy title of marriage ; that such a conception 
of marriage as they were capable of entertaining was un- 
known and impossible in heaven. The marriage they 
spoke of was purely a Sadducean notion of marriage, 
merely carnal : none such is in heaven. 

" The Lord does not say there is no marriage in heaven: 
but that 6 in the resurrection they neither marry ' — as 
men of their own motion — ' nor are given in marriage — 
as women by their relatives ; but surely this does not 
prevent God from joining together two souls in the abid- 
ing union of holy love. If death could eternally separate 
souls which internally were altogether akin, death would 
provoke an eternal sorrow. 

" The Lord continually spake in parables to those who 
asked Him questions, because they were not able to bear 
the unclothed truth. To the Sadducees He could not 
speak of any higher marriage than that which was in their 
thoughts : it would indeed have been * to cast pearls 
before swine/ They would have profaned the truth. 
Even the disciples could only bear to learn the truth 
in part : hence the Lord said, ' I have many things to 
say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.' 

" Marriage, like sex, is representative. Such a mar- 
riage as the Sadducees spoke of represents the infernal 
union of evil with falsity. To such a marriage the Lord 
refers in another statement — ' As in the days that were 
before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying 
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered 
into the ark' (Matt. xxiv. 38, 39). Such a ' marrying 
and giving in marriage/ in both statements, depicts the 
impure union of evil and falsity, and not the heavenly 
marriage of wisdom and love, of faith and charity, of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 243 

II 

j goodness and truth. Of course in heaven such a union 
of evil and falsity, or any external association which 
! could represent it, is impossible. 

"The object of the marriage referred to by the Sad- 
| ducees was to raise up seed to the brother, — merely for 
the purpose of procreation. Such a purpose is altogether 
restricted to earth, where alone such births are possible. 
( The union of souls in heavenly marriage results in spiritual 
I prolifications — in the increase of love and wisdom, of joy 
j and gladness, of innocence, peace, and tenderness in both 
j the man-angel and the woman-angel. Hence again no 
; such marriages as that described by the Sadducees are 
I possible in heaven. 

" The basis of the heavenly marriage is the union of 
love and wisdom in the soul of each man or woman. 
This basis must be laid in the earth-life of both the man 
j and the woman. Hence, even on earth, only those who 
internally are pure and good can become really married, 
in the highest sense of marriage. Only such are joined 
together by God ; but of such the Saviour declares that 
'they are no more twain!' If they are no more twain 
but one, they can never more be sundered : henceforth 
they are eternally one, God will not separate them, for 
He had joined them together: angels will not, for their 
married joy adds to the sum total of the joys of heaven : 
they themselves will not separate, for their lives flow to- 
gether in ever-increasing unity. The marriage of such in 
heaven is the ultimation of the heavenly marriage of 
goodness and truth which had begun in them on earth • 
and, in this sense, the earth-life is the beginning-place of 
the heavenly marriage, to be increasingly realised for ever. 
" On these various grounds, then," concluded Sophos, 
j " I affirm that, in His reply to the Sadducees, the Lord 

! did not teach that there are no marriages in heaven." 

i 

I 



244 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 

"The Sadducees must have so understood Him/' I 
remarked. 

" The Jews must have understood Him to refer to 
Herod's temple when He said, 6 Destroy this temple, and 
in three days I will build it up/ It was only to His dis- 
ciples, after the multitude had departed, that the Lord 
explained the parables which He had uttered to the 
people; and even to them He explained His meaning 
only 'as they were able to bear it.' The conclusion is 
evident : the Lord ever adapted His instructions to the 
states and capacities of His hearers. Only to the dis- 
ciples was it given 'to know the mysteries of the 
kingdom.' 

" The concealments of truth beneath veils of parable 
and symbolry, which the Lord adopted, are certainly as 
remarkable as His open explanations of truth. Thus, 
His reply to the objection urged against His claiming to 
be God (John x. 34, 36) ; His evasion of the question of 
the Pharisees as to the authority by which He wrought 
(Matt. xxi. 25-27); His silencing the pharisaic lawyer 
(Matt. xxii. 35-40); and the Herodians as to paying 
tribute (Matt. xxii. 16-21). Thus also His statements 
that the father is not to be called father, nor any one 
teacher or master ; that it is as difficult for a rich man 
to enter into heaven as for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle ; that friends are to be made of the un- 
righteous mammon ; that when one cheek is smitten, the 
other is to be turned to the smiter ; that the coat is also 
to be surrendered to him who would take the cloak; that 
offending hands and feet were to be cut off, and an 
offending eye to be plucked out ; or that the father and 
mother were to be hated. To this class of partially veiled 
truths the reply to the insidious question of the Sadducees 
of right belongs.' 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 245 



"Why were these concealed truths uttered at all?" I 
; asked. 

" Firstly, because the querists were unable to receive 
truths openly expressed/' replied Sophos ; " and secondly, 
because the key for the unlocking of such treasuries of 
wisdom was intended to be put into the possession of the 
Church in a better and fitter time." 

" Well, Sophos, you have disposed of all my objections 
! save one : what did the Lord mean by His teaching as to 
eunuchs?" I asked. 

" The Lord had been expounding the Divine law of 
marriage, and had announced that those whom God 
had joined were thenceforth inseparable ; the disciples, 
shocked at the idea of the indissoluble character of mar- 
riage, had said, ' If the case of the man be so with his 
wife, it is not good to marry.' The Lord answered, ' All 
men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is 
given.' To what 'saying' did He refer?" 

"To the disciples' remark, 'it is not good to marry,"' 
I replied. 

" Surely not !" rejoined Sophos. " The remark of the 
disciples was an objection to what Jesus had taught; it 
proved how unable they were to understand the Divine 
teaching, that 'those whom God had joined together 
could not be put asunder.' The ' saying ' which all ' could 
not receive' is the 'saying' which He Himself had pre- 
viously uttered; certainly not the objection of the dis- 
ciples to His teaching ! The Lord proceeds to show who 
they are to whom it is given to receive His previous 
teachings as to the indissoluble nature of marriage. He 
says : ' For there are some eunuchs, which were so born 
from their mother's womb : and there are some eunuchs, 
which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs 
which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of 



246 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it let him re- 
ceive it' (Matt. xix. 12). Those to whom it is given to 
receive the Lord's ' saying ' concerning marriage are here 
spoken of as ' eunuchs.' 

" To perceive any meaning in these words, they must 
be spiritually understood. But it is not difficult to per- 
ceive their spiritual signification. The Lord here means 
by ' eunuchs ' what is meant in the Revelation by 'virgins,' 
those who are 'not defiled with women.' These ' eunuchs' 
are the regenerate, who may be distinguished into three 
classes, — First, those who are eunuchs from their mother's 
womb, c the celestial ;' secondly, those who have been 
made eunuchs by men, 'the spiritual ;' thirdly, those who 
have made themselves eunuchs, 'the natural.' The 
mother's womb signifies celestial love and innocence ; 
they who are 'born eunuchs' are those who have been 
spiritually born again into a state of celestial love of the 
Lord and goodness. Man signifies the understanding of 
truth: they who are 'made eunuchs of men' are those 
who are regenerated into the love of truth, or wisdom. 
They who have ' made themselves eunuchs for the king- 
dom of heaven's sake' are those who are regenerated 
into the love of obeying the commandments of God, who 
have made themselves eunuchs, or have compelled them- 
selves to obey the Divine laws of purity. The reason 
why these regenerated men are called ' eunuchs ' is be- 
cause this word representatively describes the internal 
chastity of men, as the word 'virgin' representatively 
describes the spiritual chastity of women. All who are 
in the heavens are spiritually eunuchs and virgins. — that 
is, they are wholly chaste and pure : these terms sym- 
bolically describe their interior state, and not their exterior 
condition. Those who are ' pure in heart' shall see God : 
such are the 'eunuchs' and 'virgins' of the Word, and 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 247 

unto these it is given to receive the Divine teaching con- 
cerning the perpetuity of marriage, and the indissoluble 
nature of that union which has been effected between 
truly married partners by God Himself. Others than 
these ' pure in heart ' would defile and profane the truth 
as to marriages in heaven. 

" The Word refers to such spiritual eunuchs in another 
statement : 6 Let not the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry 
tree. For thus saith the Lord, Unto the eunuchs that 
S keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, 
and take hold of My covenant ; even unto them will I 
give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name 
better than of sons and daughters : I will give them an 
everlasting name that shall not be cut off' (Isa. lvi. 3-5). 
You are aware that God forbade the Israelites from mak- 
ing men physically eunuchs (Deut. xxiii. 1) : such eunuchs 
were not to enter into the congregation of the Lord. 
But from the statement of Isaiah, it would seem that to 
be a eunuch was to be a desirable thing : hence the 
passages are only consistent when we see that the Lord 
is speaking of those who were eunuchs spiritually. To 
such belong the two promises, — the place and name 
better than of sons and daughters, the everlasting name, 
— and to such it also is given to understand and receive 
the Lord's ' saying ' as to marriage.'* 

" The explanation is impressive," I rejoined, " and it 
shall receive my fullest consideration." 

c< Before we quit this topic," resumed Sophos, " let me 
say one thing more. God has implanted in all healthy 
persons a love of the opposite sex : man shares this in- 
stinct with all animals. This feeling of itself is unchaste 
and unclean. It needs to be born again, to become re- 
generate. The regeneration of this feeling, however, is 
not its extirpation : regeneration extirpates nothing except 



248 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 



abuses, perversions, and corruptions of good affections,— 
that is, evil. This feeling becomes regenerate in propor- 
tion as it inwardly and continually inclines to only one 
of the opposite sex, that they twain may become al- 
together one in the Lord. The love of the opposite sex 
is not the origin of true marriage affection, but its first 
rudiment \ thus it is like an external natural principle in 
which an internal spiritual principle may be implanted. 
This internal marriage affection can only be experienced 
by one man with one woman, and by one woman with 
one man ; hence polygamy is utterly brutal and unclean, 
fornication is abominable, and adultery consigns to hell. 
He who delights in adulterous love is already a devil : he 
murders innocence, robs man and woman of what is 
beyond price, bears false witness, and violates the spirit 
of every law of God. Such become in their final state 
the most malignant and direful of fiends. Marriage being 
a holy state, anything which tends to profane or to 
violate it, or to impair the mind and body for the due 
performance of its obligations, or even to disparage it in 
the estimation of others, is impious. Hence seduction is 
utterly infernal. The internal state of a man or woman 
as to the heavenly marriage of goodness and truth in them 
is therefore commensurate with the purity of their hearts 
in regard to the relationship of marriage. The corruption 
of society is ever in proportion to laxity of principles 
and of practice in sexual and marital matters ; for, in a 
most significant sense, a ' wicked' generation is ever an 
'adulterous' one. Spiritual adultery is the infernal mar- 
riage of evil and falsity in the soul; and from its spiritual 
co-efficient will external adultery continually tend to flow." 

"These are solemn words, Sophos," I replied, "and I 
feel them to be true. Are all who have been married on 
earth reunited when they enter into the spiritual world ?" 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 249 

" No," answered Sophos. " Only those who have been 
truly married, joined together by the Lord, become re- 
united in heavenly marriage. Unhappily, at the present 
time, the number of such truly married pairs is propor- 
tionately few. In the first state after death, all who were 
married partners on earth see each other, and converse 
together; but if they are not internally one, if, indeed, 
they are not similitudes, the affection they felt for each 
other was only external; and, in common with all external 
affections, it speedily passes away. Their previous mar- 
riage was only ^junction, and not ^junction of soul. 
The universal law of the spiritual world invariably 
operates, — similarity of state unites, dissimilarity sepa- 
rates. Nor does such separation cause either to grieve: 
the union of dissimilars would be bondage to both. For 
all who go to heaven there is a real marriage-partner, one 
of whom the male can say, 'She is mine and I am hers,' 
and of whom the female can say, with the deeper self- 
surrender of love which the woman is, 6 1 am his and he 
is mine!' Adult angels are all married; for heavenly 
perfection and unmarried life are contradictions/ 

"And in hell," I asked, " does the same law prevail ?' J 
" The infernal marriage is the union of evil and falsity 
in the souls," responded Sophos. " In hell it ultimates 
itself in the adjunction of adultery and harlotry in the 
persons of a male and female devil; with mental and 
moral and external rottenness as its inevitable conse- 
quence. Internal states there become exteriorly mani- 
fest, as in all parts of the spiritual world; the frenzies and 
furies and loathsomeness which rage and burn within 
the infernals become visible, and all is corrupt and 
horrible." 

u What most impresses me, Sophos, in all that you tell 
me is the universality and invariableness of the principles 



2SO WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 



which appear to underlie the facts you describe," I 
observed. 

" All phenomena are but the exemplifications of prin- 
ciples," rejoined Sophos. "When principles are known, 
phenomena may almost be predicted. But we have said 
enough of marriage in the spiritual world. 

" Your question to Dokeos, which led to this inquiry, 
was — Is there any social or even domestic life among 
spirits in the World of Spirits ? Our answer is, There is 
both. There is social life, arising from the distribution 
of spirits into societies, the bond of whose union is simi- 
larity of internal state ; the friendships and intimacies of 
spirits follow this same law ; and of this law of spiritual 
affinity, the marriages of angels are only the highest and 
most sacred illustration. If by domestic life you mean, 
do offspring result from such marriages? I answer, No. 
Or if you mean, Are those who on earth formed families 
reunited in the spiritual world ? I answer, To the extent 
that they are internally akin, they are and remain reunited. 
But the final abode of every spirit is determined accord- 
ing to the law of state. Merely natural affections fade 
away : that alone which is real, because internal, re- 
mains. " 

"And those infants and children who die in their 
infancy and childhood — what of them?" I asked. 

Angels and the Spirits of Children. 

" The question is important," rej oined Dokeos. " More 
than half the human family perish before attaining four- 
teen years of age. Of these the larger proportion die 
before their second year of earthly existence. This infant 
mortality is most excessive among nations which are 
morally the most corrupt. As corruption in regard to 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



251 



marriage increases, the number of births diminishes, and 
the rate of infant mortality increases : in this way whole 
tribes and nations have disappeared from the face of the 
earth. Operating in and by means of natural laws, the 
Lord removes from the world those who are the least able 
to live, or those on whom physical depravity has most 
deeply set its seal. It is a proof of disorder that children 
die in their childhood : the mortality is in proportion to 
the disorder that reigns." 

" Yet," added Sophos, " all who die prior to adult age 
are saved : to this rule there is no exception. Baptized 
or unbaptized, the offspring of Christian or pagan parents, 
whether their parents were civilized or savage, good or 
wicked, all who die in infancy and childhood go to 
heaven. They pass from the care of earthly friends into 
the far more tender care of angelic guardians and teachers. 
The guardians of the infants are those who, in their earthly 
life, most fully developed this sweet disposition of loving 
most to labour for those who were the most helpless. 
Their hearts were full of childward sympathies ; with this 
affection, derived from the infinite reservoir of the Divine 
Love, their souls still thrill ; it is their ruling love, and it 
indicates their special use. These angels are of the 
female sex. As many of these infant new-comers as 
their love can inclose, and their cares can compass, are 
entrusted to them : their use and joy are heavenly, for 
they watch over the development of the young souls 
entrusted to their care with more than maternal solici- 
tude. 

"The final home of these tender lambs of the flock of 
the Good Shepherd is the highest, the celestial heaven ; 
for not having actually committed sin, by the voluntary 
adoption into life, and against the monitions of known 
truth, of their hereditary predispositions to evil, they are 



252 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



among the innocent; and in heaven the innocent are the 
highest of all angels. Because the Saviour was the spot- 
less, the innocent one, He is termed the Lamb of God ; 
and the lambs of His flock are the innocent ones, 
whether of infant or adult age, whom He gathers home 
to Himself." 

"The idea is fitting and beautiful!" I exclaimed. 
"Do these children for ever remain children?'' 

" No," replied Sophos. " Childhood is the sign of 
mental and physical immaturity ; but in heaven all be- 
come mature. The ordinary appearance of angels who 
attained to adult age in the natural world is that of men 
and women of about thirty years of age. Those who 
have grown up in heaven remain for ever younger in 
appearance than others: that is the distinction between 
them." 

" Then the American poet was right in his idea," I 
observed. " Speaking of a child who had died in child- 
hood, he says : — 

' She is not dead — the child of our affection, — 
But gone unto that school 
Where she no longer needs our poor protection, 
And Christ Himself doth rule. 

In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion, 

By guardian angels led, 
Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution, 

She lives, whom we call dead ! 

Day after day we think what she is doing 

In those bright realms of air ; 
Year after year her tender steps pursuing, 

Behold her grown more fair. 

Not as a child shall we again behold her ; 

For when, with raptures wild, 
In our embraces we again enfold her, 

She will not be a child ; 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 253 



But a fair maiden, in her Father's mansion, 

Clothed with celestial grace ; 
And beautiful with all the soul's expansion, 

Shall we behold her face.'" * 

"The sentiment is charming and the thoughts are 
true," rejoined Sophos. "As the child advances in 
maturity of body and mind, he passes from the care of 
his first guardian to angelic teachers, who instruct 
him increasingly in the wisdom of heaven. When he 
becomes adult he marries, and the newly-married pair 
have their own abode. The bud that merely blossomed 
on earth fully blooms into unfading beauty in heaven. " 

" Oh, Sophos !" I exclaimed. " Tell me, if all who die 
in infancy are saved, why does God select some, and 
leave others ? Why does He not take those whom He 
foresees will lead lives of sin, and will finally be lost? 
Why is it that some who seem to give promise of being 
brightest, wisest, and fairest, fall, while so many of the 
rugged and coarse are spared? Why is it that the 
children of so many who could provide for their every 
want, teachers for their minds as well as food and raiment 
for their bodies, are snatched away, while the children oi 
the dunghill and gutter are suffered to remain ? The 
heart of many a gentle Rachel mourns for the darlings 
of whom she has been bereft, while offspring;.' of sin, 
surrounded with examples of vice, doomed to physical 
squalor, intellectual starvation, and moral contamination, 
are permitted to live. Why is there such a seeming 
contradiction to the truth that God intends human hap- 
piness, and strives by His providence to secure it?" 

The eyes of Sophos beamed with tenderness and in- 
telligence. I had arisen from my seat in my eagerness, 
and he seemed to touch my shoulder with his hand, — a 

* Longfellow, Resignation. 



254 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



touch which thrilled and melted me. In a voice of 
solemn and rolling melody he answered me. " My 
friend, God never intended the death of a child. It is a 
subversion of the Divine Order that any child should die 
in infancy. Children who inherit from their parents 
physical health, who are brought up under healthy con- 
ditions, and who have sufficient to supply their bodily 
wants, live; they do not die. The seeds of physical 
weakness and disease which are planted in the very con- 
stitutions of children, and which cause them to fade away 
like poisoned flowers, are consequences of human sin, 
not necessarily the sins of the parents, but of many gene- 
rations and of the race. The terrible epidemics that 
sweep across wide districts of the earth, and cut down 
these sweet blossoms in the gardens of human love, could 
never have been were it not for sin. The frightful con- 
ditions under which human beings live, inviting disease 
and beckoning death, are proofs of evil working with 
ignorance to slaughter the little ones. Children die by 
God's permission, not by His appointment. Not only 
do not the wicked live out one half their days, the fatal 
heritage of premature decease descends to their children. 
Obedience to the laws of health, which are laws of God, 
prolongs human existence as well as enhances human 
happiness. One of the blessings promised to the new 
and more glorious state of the Church of the future is that 
' there shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an 
old man who hath not filled his days ; for the child shall 
die an hundred years old' (Isa. lxv. 20). Had not sin 
entered into the world, the stream of life from generation 
to generation would have remained pure, and premature 
death from disease, ' the terror that walketh by night and 
the arrow that flieth by day, the pestilence that walketh 
in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noonday/ 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



255 



would have been unknown. It is a merciful arrange- 
ment of Divine Order, meeting the new circumstances 
which sin introduced, to receive all these little ones into 
heaven ! 

"You ask, Why is the selection? Inasmuch as God 
never appointed the death of children, He does not make 
the selection of those who shall live or die. The selec- 
tion is made by the universal and impartial law of nature, 
the survival of the physically fittest to live : the grounds 
of the selection are physical and not moral. They die 
in whose organisms the germs of disease lie hidden, and 
who come into such physical conditions as can develop 
those germs : they die whose frames are delicate and 
fragile, and who cannot battle through the ailments and 
troubles of infant life : they die whose nurses and attend- 
ants are careless or ignorant, or both; who are ill-fed, 
! insufficiently clad, unsheltered; who are not physically 
strong enough to resist the inclemencies of the treatment 
to which they are subjected, or who are subjected to 
treatment more cruel and exacting than others. Spiritual 
laws operate into and co-act with natural laws, and so soon 
as, from whatever cause, the body ceases to be a vessel 
capable of receiving and reacting against life, it ceases to 
live. God makes no exceptions, on moral grounds, in 
the operation of His physical laws; for they, too, are His 
laws ! He provides moral compensations for all physical 
afflictions ; but the integrity of both the spiritual and 
natural universe demands the unvarying and impartial 
operation of His laws. 

" Even were it otherwise," continued Sophos, "it is 
evident that all could not die in infancy, or the earth 
would become depopulated, the human race would 
perish. The world's work has to be done, and men and 
women must survive to do it. Who shall survive? The 



256 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 

physically fittest ; for, so far as the world is concerned, 
they must be the most useful and the most productive. 
Under the operation of the marvellous law, the trans- 
mission of hereditary qualities, a man or woman can 
arise, descending through the line of a morally tainted 
but intellectually gifted ancestry, who is fitted to do 
work, to receive and teach truth, to achieve artistic, 
legislative, industrial, or commercial triumphs such as 
none other could accomplish; and whose uses in the 
great economy of life will extend into the spiritual world, 
and be there rendered eternal. It is true that all 
children who die go to heaven, and the highest heaven, 
yet the uses which they are fitted to perform there are 
far less various and diverse than those for which they are 
fitted who live to adult age, who realise the innocence of 
wisdom, and ascend, matured in mind and experience, 
into their heavenly place. It is not well for any one to 
lament that they were not taken from earth in infancy or 
childhood : it is not well to lament too deeply or con- 
tinuously for those who are. Those who live are pre- 
served for wise ends ; those who die, die for wise ends. 
It is the highest wisdom to trust while we submit : 
whether we trust or not, submit we must ! Who can tell 
what would have been the lives and characters of those 
who pass from the world in infancy, had they survived ? 
It may be that mercy and providence is operative here ! 

"One thing is certain, to have had children who are now 
in heaven is a blessed privilege. Such have given up angels 
to God. All their sweet and tender memories, all their 
yearning affections, all their soaring hopes, are as golden 
cords let down from heaven, drawing and still drawing 
their souls to the Lord. The spiritual equilibrium in 
which they stand is weighted on the heavenward side. 
Their children are eloquent though silent preachers of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 257 



righteousness to their inward ear and heart. Angel 
fingers beckon them upward ; and angel voices are wait- 
ing to welcome them when they, too, must go hence. 
They can look across the grave where the bodies of their 
little ones lie buried, and with their tear-blinded eyes 
can behold the promise, ' Ye too shall be with me, where 
I am, and where I have garnered these little ones from 
the sultry heat and the blast of the winter storm/ Death 
is only an appearance to those who survive : the angels 
see life in it, and nothing but life ! " 

" Thanks, Sophos," I said. " This should bring com- 
fort to the souls of those who are bereaved. The labour 
of teaching these neophytes of heaven must be full of 
satisfaction, and its own exceeding great reward. But 
what are the studies which such children in heaven can 
pursue ? " 

"Your question shall be answered presently," rejoined 
Sophos. "We have not yet done with the uses per- 
formed by angels in the World of Spirits. There are 
gathered multitudes from the natural world who are 

"The Heathens in the World of Spirits. 

" These are they on whom the light of the Gospel has 
never shone. These, again, are also divisible into two 
great classes — the good, those who have lived in accord- 
ance with the measure of light they had received while 
on earth ; and the evil, those who, measured by their 
own light, were self-devoted to their own lusts. The 
process of judgment with regard to both these classes is 
exactly similar to that we have already described. 

" Two great principles need to be remembered in re- 
gard to these : they must be judged by the measure of 
light which they possessed ; and yet only by coming to 



2 5 8 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



know and love the Lord can any among them be 
saved. 

" They must be judged according to their measure of 
light. As we have shewn you, judgment is not an 
external process, but an unveiling of the real state of 
every spirit ; consummating in the vastation from those 
whose ruling love is good, of all relatively external 
fallacies, falsities, and infirmities ; and from those whose 
internal ruling love is evil, of all their knowledges and 
appearances of wisdom. Hence there is no condemna- 
tion attaching to ignorance. Yet true knowledge, and 
an extensive acquaintance with Divine truths during the 
earth-life, are invaluable blessings; by their means the 
soul has opened within it more interior planes into which 
it can receive fuller states of love, it becomes prepared 
for more exalted uses, and is rendered capable of richer 
measures of joy. Heaven itself is the marriage in the 
soul of goodness and truth : according to the multitude 
of the soul's intellectual and affectional possessions, so is 
the joy, the interiorness, the exaltation of its heaven. 
The process of teaching truth to those who already love 
goodness, or of uniting knowledge to the states of love 
which the soul already really possesses, takes place 
in the World of Spirits. Hence good heathens can 
there learn to know the Lord : the good affections 
which they have felt and still feel, and which their lives 
have evinced, form ' the good ground ' within them, into 
which the seeds of Divine truth may be sown. The 
sowers of these seeds of Divine truth are angels, who in 
this use are the instruments of the Divine Sower. 

" There are two modes in which truth can be ac- 
quired : from without, by the instructions of those who 
are wise, by the continual exercise of the perceptive 
faculties, and by the external presentation of new objects 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 259 

on which those faculties can be exercised; also from 
within, by meditation, and by the influx of light and 
activity from the Lord into the reasoning intelligence of 
the angel, both of which rearrange, as it were, the mental 
forms already received into the mind by the use of the 
perceptive faculties. Of both these modes of acquiring 
knowledge, spirits and angels avail themselves. But in 
their earlier states, spirits need the external way more 
than the internal; for the rudiments of all knowledge 
are primarily derived from without. Hence the good 
heathen need to be taught the truths of the Gospel 
externally, in order that the knowledge thus exteriorly 
obtained may afterwards develop and fructify within 
them. 

" It will not, therefore, be a surprising thought to you 
that there should be 

" Angelic Preachers in the World of Spirits. 

"The preaching of the Apostles on the day of Pente- 
cost resulted in the addition to the Church of three 
thousand souls : in the World of Spirits, such a scene 
may be continually witnessed." 

"Are those preachers eloquent ?" I asked. 

" If by eloquent you mean dexterous in fine phrases, 
too often calculated to draw the attention of their hearers 
from the truths that they utter, to admire the magni- 
loquent way in which they express their ideas, I answer 
that they are not eloquent," rejoined Sophos. " If by 
eloquent you mean that the truth shines in their under- 
standings, and the love of truth burns in their hearts, 
that their words are winged as with eagle's pinions to 
dart into their hearers' souls, that the sublimest poetry 
adorns their presentations of truth, that the speaker 



i 



260 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



grows absorbed and his self-hood seems lost in the con- 
sciousness of the grandeur of the truths that he utters, 
that for the time he is but the mouthpiece of Divine 
Wisdom flowing through him into the listening multitude, 
making them to so forget the speaker in the effort to 
drink in his meaning, that they would never think of 
asking themselves whether he was eloquent or not — if 
such is your meaning, I answer angelic preachers are 
eloquent. Yet is there an endless diversity of styles 
among angelic preachers, and each one speaks only 
when, and so long as the Lord gives him a message to 
deliver. Theirs are exalted uses, yet by no means the 
most exalted. They all belong to the spiritual kingdom, 
in all the angels of which the intellect predominates over 
affection. Nor is theirs the most exalted wisdom : this 
belongs to the angels of the celestial kingdom, who love 
God and goodness above all things, and thence im- 
mediately perceive truth. In preaching, Divine Truth 
has to be accommodated to the diversified states of the 
mixed multitude who hear ; hence there can never be 
such heights or depths reached as when, in full sympathy, 
a teacher and a learner may together endeavour to 
explore the principles and phenomena of the Divine 
operations." 

" But as to language : do all spirits and angels speak 
the same language ? " I asked. 

Angelic Language. 

; H 

"Yes," replied Sophos. "Yet there is a diversity, not | 
so much in the sounds, as in the wisdom of the thoughts 
conveyed thereby. Speech with the angels is the ex- 
pression of ideas : the extent of the perception of the ; 
meanings of what may be said depends on the state 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 261 



of the hearers. This, however, in some measure, is true 
of all language ; for vocal sounds only call up in the 
mind of the hearer the thoughts with which such sounds 
are habitually associated : new arrangements of vocables 
occasioning new associations of old ideas in the minds of 
those who listen. In heaven there is also the most 
thorough economy, both of effort to hear and to under- 
stand the meaning of what is spoken, and likewise of 
speech. A phrase there signifies and conveys more wis- 
dom than could even be expressed in earthly language. 
And further, inasmuch as the faces of the angels are 
transparent with the light of truth, the meaning of speech 
is marvellously enhanced by facial expression, by gesture, 
and by all the surroundings of the speaker. His inward 
thought projects itself into outward visibility, and he 
stands encompassed about with the temporary embodi- 
ments and illustrations of the meaning he would fain 
convey." 

" Is my seeing some of the statements of the Word an 
illustration of this idea?" I asked eagerly. 

"It is not for me to explain the process by which 
you see," gravely rejoined Sophos. " We are here as 
teachers, and you as a learner. When our task is done, 
you will seek to recall us in vain." 

" I wish not to understand what is not fitting you 
should teach me," I replied. "Enough for me is the 
privilege of learning." 

"Say not privilege," rejoined Sophos, "for that may 
easily savour of self-love and gratified ambition : say the 
responsibility of learning ! We teach, it is our use : you 
learn, it is your preparation : you may teach, it is your 
possible use. To receive in order that we may give is 
the universal duty ; to banish every idea of self-merit in 
either receiving or giving, this also is the duty of all. In 



262 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



the clear perception and acknowledgment that the only 
real Giver is the Lord, no room is left for indulging 
any self-assertive thought, or for self-congratulation, which 
is but selfishness thinly disguised." 



§ III. WHAT DO ANGELS DO IN HEAVEN? 

u Sophos, your reproof is wise. I am willing to learn/' 
I said. "Is there anything more you wish to tell me 
concerning the ministry of angels in the World of 
Spirits ? n 

"We have said enough on that subject," replied 
Sophos. " We may next think of what angels do in the 
heavens. Dokeos will first speak to you of the divisions 
and distinctions of the heavens." 

Arrangement of the Heavens. 

Dokeos began : — 

"Paul spoke to the Hebrews of an ' innumerable com- 
pany of angels.' An innumerable company they must 
indeed be, if we remember the millions who have come 
from the earth, and from all the other earths in the 
universe. Hence one of the titles of God is 'the Lord 
of Hosts,' or Armies. But an army is the very reverse 
of an indiscriminate throng ; order is evinced in every 
arrangement, and enforced in all the discipline. Order 
is the great law of heaven ; it proceeds from the Lord, 
who is Order itself. A system of arrangement in heaven 
among the angels is, therefore, inevitable. They are not 
all alike in character, or in use, or in relation to each 
other and to all. Do angels worship ? Some must 
stand or sit in front of others : some must lead the 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 263 



worship, and others must follow. Do they chorus praises 
to the Most High ? There must still be order and dis- 
tribution of parts. Even were all heavenly choruses to 
be sung in unisons, there must still be differences in the 
character, quality, and range of the voices. Do they 
hold deep councils together concerning the eternal 
mysteries of the Divine nature and purposes? There 
will be the wiser and the less wise, the presiding intelli- 
gence, the most tender heart When the Saviour sat at 
the table on which His last Supper was spread, only two 
could sit next to Him, one on either side. There must, 
therefore, be order and arrangement in heaven : to deny 
this would be to assert an absurdity, viz., that there is 
disorder there." 

" Which no one would assert," I remarked. 

"The Scriptures also indicate the existence of such 
necessary distinctions," resumed Dokeos. "In the 
parable of the pounds (Luke xix. 12-27), tne Lord de- 
clared that it should be said to him who had increased 
the one to ten pounds, 'Have thou authority over ten 
cities;' and to him that had increased his one to five 
pounds, ' Be thou also over five cities.' This does not 
mean that the saved in heaven shall be distributed into 
cities, and that ' the faithful over a few things ' are to be 
the rulers over the number of cities named. The 'cities' 
mean the knowledges of goodness and truth which the 
servants of the Great King had gained by their faithful 
service; their authority over these 'cities' denotes their 
spiritual possession of, and power over, such knowledges. 
Yet the parable intimates the idea of distinctions and 
differences of state among the saved, and, therefore, im- 
plies that there is a system of order and arrangement 
among them. 

"Paul also intimates the same necessary fact. He 



264 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



says, 6 1 knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago 
— whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out cf 
the body I cannot tell \ God knoweth — such a one 
caught up to the third heaven J (2 Cor. xii. 3). There 
are, then, three heavens; thus implying farther distinc- 
tions, and a still more complex system of arrangement. 
The same writer intimates to the same church, in his 
earlier epistle, that there are three degrees of heavenly 
glory, and also an indefinite variety in each degree : — 
'There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the 
moon, and another glory of the stars : for one star differ- 
eth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrec- 
tion of the dead' (1 Cor. xv. 41, 42). A similar idea of 
difference and distinction is expressed by Daniel (xii. 3): 
— 6 They that be wise [teachers] shall shine as the bright- 
ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to 
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever/ The three- 
fold gradation of glory is further implied in the parable 
of the sower : — The seed that fell on good ground 
brought forth fruit in some thirty, some sixty, and some 
an hundred fold (Matt. xiii. 8). This power of spiritual 
productiveness indicates the degree of glory thereby 
realised. The same idea of threefold gradation is taught 
where the Lord declared 1 He that receiveth a prophet 
in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's re- 
ward ; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name 
of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's re- 
ward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of 
these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of 
a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose 
his reward' (Matt. x. 41, 42). To receive a prophet 
means to accept every heavenly truth ; to receive a 
righteous man means to accept every good affection ; to 
give a cup of cold water to the little ones means to re- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



265 



fresh the holy principles of innocence born of the Lord 
in the soul. The reward is to be graduated according to 
the state of its recipient; they who can receive much 
will receive much ; they who can contain but little will 
be filled. 

"So again Paul evinces that in the oneness of the 
Christian Church an endless diversity of gifts was 
possible, 6 but the same spirit;' 6 differences of ministra- 
tion, but the same Lord;' 'diversities of operations, 
but the same God.' Hence he likens the Church of 
Christ to a body having many members, each with its 
appropriate character and function, and of the whole of 
which the Lord is 'the head ; (1 Cor. xii,)." 

" You have given proof enough, Dokeos," I observed. 
"There must be distinctions, and consequently there 
must be arrangement, subordinations and co-ordinations 
in heaven. How do you describe these ? " 

Sophos replied to me. " The universal and invariable 
law of aggregation in the spiritual world is affinity — those 
who are likest are nearest, the less like are less contigu- 
ous, the least like are the most remote. This law pro- 
vides, consequently, that the arrangements of heaven 
shall be according to character — the one great principle 
which underlies all true classification. We have pre- 
viously seen that the reception and appropriation by 
human beings of the Divine Love or Wisdom constitute 
heaven as a state of life or character. Hence, the first 
great distinction which prevails in heaven is the radical 
one of genius : accordingly as either the affectional nature 
or the intellectual nature preponderates, so angels are 
arranged. We term this genius, this hereditary and in- 
evitable bent of the soul, in which the will predominates 
over the intellect, the celestial genius ; and the other in 
which the intellect predominates over the will, the 



266 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



spiritual genius. All the heavens are correspondingly 
divided into two Kingdoms, specifically the celestial 
Kingdom, and the sfiii-itual Ki?igdo??i. These Kingdoms 
are to the heavens correspondingly as the two sides of the 
human body : the left can never become, and can never 
desire to become, the right side. So, representatively, 
the men of Judah and the men of Benjamin (son of the 
left hand) may unite most intimately, but the ones can 
never become the others. This division of the heavens 
into two kingdoms gives a spiritual significance to all the 
passages in the Word in which the right and left sides, 
or hands, are mentioned, the right representatively de- 
noting the celestial, and the left the spiritual kingdom. 
The angels thus distinguished may dwell in the same 
heaven and on the same plane, for angels of both genius 
exist in each heaven. 

" The second class of divisions is as to the heavens. 
The ground of this distinction is still in the character of 
the inhabitants of each heaven. Some have the basis of 
their Christian life in the principle of obedience: they 
submit to the Divine Will, because it is His Will ; and 
seek to do His commandments, because God has en- 
joined them. Of such are the inhabitants of the lowest 
heaven, this state being the lowest in which Christian life 
can exist. Another great class have the foundations of 
their Christian life in the love of truth: these constitute the 
angels of the spiritual heaven. A third great class have 
the ground of their Christian life in the love of goodness : 
these are the Johns of the Gospel, who lean on the 
Lord's bosom, whom the Lord is especially said to love, 
because their deep ruling and abiding affection is love to 
the Lord. These constitute the angels of the highest, 
the first, the celestial heave??.. These distinctions are both 
real and permanent : they exist in the very character of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 267 



the angels : they determine the arrangements of the 
heavens. 

"The third class of distinctions is as to the uses which 
each angel can perform in the heaven to which he be- 
longs. This distinction is still founded in character. 
According to this distinction, all in each heaven are 
gathered into societies ; and thus is laid the basis of 
social life in the heavens. The position of each angel 
in the society to which he belongs is still determined by 
character, it being relatively more or less interior accord- 
ing to his capacity and his reception of the Divine life, 
which flows into and animates all. 

"Thus the Divine dualism is represented in the two 
Kingdoms, and the Divine Tri-unity is exemplified in the 
three heavens ; and this, again, is pictured in the three- 
fold classification of all the saved into kingdoms, heavens, 
and societies." 

" It is a most comprehensive system, Sophos," I re- 
joined. "Can the angels of one society mingle with 
those of other societies ? " 

" Freely," replied Sophos. "And, indeed, of necessity 
they must mingle in the mutual performance of uses. On 
each plane, association is altogether uninterrupted." 

"Can the angels of the lower heaven rise to a habita- 
tion in one of the superior heavens ? " I asked. 

" No," rejoined Sophos. " Nor do they ever desire to 
do so; for the joy of each angel is full. Yet all the 
heavens are continually progressing in wisdom and good- 
ness ; the plane of life in each, however, for ever remains 
unchanged. As an illustration of my meaning, conceive 
of a triple helix, or ascending spiral, the base of which 
rests on the earth, the top of which extends upwards to- 
wards God. The place of each soul on either of the 
ascending spiral threads is determined on earth by its 



268 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DOf 



advance in the regenerate life. When he dies his plane 
is fixed : he will for ever continue to ascend, but his 
course of progress will for ever be on his own plane, which- 
ever of the three it may be. There is constant com- 
munication between the societies on the different planes 
by influx, and also by personal intercourse between 
temporarily ascending and descending angels ; but inas- 
much as all reception of heavenly life is according to 
character, and inasmuch as the groundwork, the founda- 
tions of character, are laid during the earthly life, each 
angel is perfectly content and supremely happy only 
when on his own plane, and in his own place on that 
plane. Joy is according to character, and the joy of 
each cannot be more than full." 

"Is there any earthly analogue of this system of ar- 
rangement?" I inquired. 

a Yes," responded Sophos. "The body of man is 
such an analogue. It consists of inmost, interior, and 
exterior parts, all conspiring together in the performance 
of the uses common to the whole ; each remaining de- 
finitely distinct, while performing its specific function in 
the general human economy; all animated by one soul, 
and living from the same respiration and arterial circula- 
tion. In the sight of God, all the heavens are as to their 
uses as one grand colossal man ; the whole is blended 
into unity by the immediate influx of life and light and 
love from Himself into every unit of this great aggregate, 
and also by mediate influx from one heaven into the 
other. The result is, that the three heavens constitute a 
united whole, and are all kept in connection, from the 
First Cause to the ultimate effects, so that nothing which 
is not in such connection can be found ; for whatever is 
not connected with the First Cause by intermediate links, 
cannot subsist, but is dissipated and falls to nothing." 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DOf 269 



Angelic Government. 

" This order and arrangement, however, must necessi- 
tate innumerable functions of governing and directing," 
I remarked. " Must I conclude, then, that such govern- 
ing uses are performed by angels ? " 

" Undoubtedly," rejoined Sophos. "Government is a 
use of ministration, which is performed by those who are 
best suited to it. The government of heaven, therefore, 
like that of the World of Spirits, is a true aristocracy, the 
rule of the best. The rulers most fitly serve by ruling; for 
it is their use. Yet in heaven there is no personal ambi- 
tion, for there there is no selfishness : each would fain 
prefer another before himself. Yet all can perceive the 
appropriate use of each angel, and each takes the place 
and discharges the duty for which he is truly fitted. In- 
asmuch as God has never created two minds that are 
exactly alike, there can be no contest for the performance 
of any one use, and there is also an indefinite variety of 
uses,, thus adding continually to the perfection of each 
heaven." 

" Have the governors any superior state to that of the 
governed ?" I asked. 

"They have the reverence as well as the love of those 
whom they govern; and the external things by which 
they are surrounded are the exact correspondences of 
their condition and functions," rejoined Sophos. "In 
the performance of their use of governing, such angels 
represent the Lord, who is the sole source of all autho- 
rity, the King of Kings, as well as the Lord of Lords. 
They have palaces, thrones, attendants, appropriate robes 
of office, garlands, and crowns. They provoke no envy, 
and have no rivals. They are in their use as truly as the 
lowliest attendant is in his use. All serve : the only 



270 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



difference between the angels is in the form and method 
of their service. The greater the number of those whom 
any one serves, the more laborious and arduous is the 
service ; the servant of all is the ruler over all. Power 
is a Divine attribute; those who receive of it in heaven 
exercise it divinely. They realise the Lord's words, 'Let 
him who would be the greatest of all be your servant.' 
Jesus was the greatest of all, because He was the servant 
of all." 

"Are the rulers and governors of heaven those who 
were rulers and governors on earth?" I asked. 

"It by no means follows," rejoined Dokeos. "Earthly 
rulers, even when competent to rule, too often seek power 
for its own sake, or for the sake of the gratifications of 
pride which the possession of power affords, or from the 
lust of wealth, or even for the sake of sensual indulgence. 
These affections are infernal. Those who desire power 
only that they may do good, and use their power only 
for the promotion of the public welfare, are born inheri- 
tors of power : their earthly life is a training for the eternal 
exercise of authority in the heavens. There are many 
great captains of industry, as you term them, constitu- 
tionally leaders and rulers of men, who are fitting them- 
selves by their earth-life for posts of high influence in the 
heavenly system of society. Thousands possess the 
splendid faculty of organization, who, in their earth life, 
had no opportunity for its exercise; but who, in the 
heavens, find their real place and their most fitting use. 
The uncrowned kings of earth will find in heaven their 
eternal crowns. The crowned subjects of earth will there 
sink to their proper place and use. The joy of all and 
the good of all will be secured by such a distribution of 
uses. He who serves by ruling is content thus to serve : 
they who serve by subordinate uses are content thus to 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 271 



serve. The ruled recognise the gift of God in the rulers : 
the rulers recognise the gift of God in the ruled. So also 
with the teachers and the taught, the leaders and the led, 
the preachers and the hearers, those who minister and 
those who are ministered unto. The taught would no 
more dream of attempting to teach their teachers, than 
would the governed desire to rule over their governors. 
Knowing that there must be governors, who could they 
desire other than the fittest, and of whose fitness to preside 
every one is fully able to judge? If one fitter to govern 
any society should ever appear, the previous governors 
would be the most willing to retire, and thus to make 
room for his better performance of the use, which would 
only enhance the perfection of the society, and conse- 
quently increase the blessedness of all its members." 

" Theirs is a glorious use ! " I exclaimed. 

"Theirs is, doubtless, an important use," rejoined 
Sophos. " Yet the angels who perform this use are by no 
means the highest. Like the preachers, the rulers are 
all of the spiritual kingdom; for it is truth or wisdom 
that governs and rules : the Lord is King by virtue of 
His Divine Wisdom, and the Great High-Priest by virtue 
of His Divine Love. The angels of the celestial kingdom 
are higher, because they are in more interior states than 
these rulers : they are, therefore, the less fitted to govern. 
Martha was cumbered with much serving ; the rule of 
the household at Bethany was exercised by her ; yet 
Mary had chosen the better part, which should not be 
taken from her. They however whose use it is delight 
in it: others, whose state is possibly far higher, would 
weary of its cares, and their hearts would speedily recoil 
from its delights. The great law of heaven is, that use 
which each is most fitted to perform is to each soul the most 
glorious, because the most delightful. To each, conse- 



272 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 

quently, any other use would be burdensome and irksome, 
imparting a sense of contrariety, and therefore of con- 
straint. The heavenly ambition is to do well the duty 
which devolves on each, in order to subserve the good 
of all ; the rulers in the heavens share this common 
ambition, and by ruling well they realise it." 

" Would that we had such governors on earth ! " I 
exclaimed. 

"There are a few such in every nation," rejoined 
Sophos j " and they are the salt of the governing classes ; 
they keep from utter corruption the social economy of 
every people. In the times which are dawning their 
numbers and their influence will increase. In the pro- 
portion that the Divine Master rules ' whose right it is to 
reign/ shall those govern to whom pertains this peculiar 
character of mind, and whose earthly use it is. As the 
influx of light from heaven pierces into the minds of men, 
intrinsic fitness to govern will be discerned and recog- 
nised ) the influence of political empirics will be dimin- 
ished, and not only righteousness, but also the right men 
will rule." 

" We are slow in discovering such," I observed. 

" The patience of the Lord is infinite," rejoined Sophos. 
" Men have to work out in freedom their whole salvation, 
to learn in the school of experience the lessons which 
experience alone can teach, and by truth to attain to 
wisdom. Enough for you to be satisfied that in the 
grand gyre of existence, the whole future course of man- 
kind will tend upward ; and that earth shall continually 
grow more like heaven. The struggles will be many and 
terrible ; but the set of the tide of life is now definitely 
toward the attainment of what is interiorly good, the 
realization of what is absolutely true." 

"God grant that this be so ! " I sighed. 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO f 273 



" Amen ! " responded both Sophos and Dokeos most 
solemnly. 

Worship in Heaven. 

"Have they worship in heaven?" I asked, after a 
slight pause. 

" Yes," replied Sophos ; " and they have places of 
worship, priests, preachers, choirs, and forms of service, 
all of which vary according to the states of the wor- 
shippers." 

" Places for worship ? " I asked. " Are there churches 
or temples in heaven ? " 

"There must be temples in heaven," replied Sophos, 
" for we read of the saved, who had come ' out of great 
tribulation/ that they are before the throne of God, and 
serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sitteth 
on the throne shall dwell among them' (Rev. vii. 15). 
The day and night here spoken of are not such as are 
known on earth, which, by rotating on its axis, occasions 
a succession of day and night ; as by revolving around 
the sun, it occasions the succession of seasons. The 
' day 7 means a state of full perception and activity ; the 
' night ' signifies a state of relative obscurity and rest. 
'Serving God in His temple' spiritually signifies the 
continual acknowledgment and unceasing worship of the 
Deity in the temple of His Divine Humanity. But this 
acknowledgment and this interior service lead the angels 
to occasional associated worship ; and for the purposes 
of associated worship edifices are necessary; and in- 
asmuch as all things in heaven are representative of 
Divine things, the temple of the Divine Humanity is 
represented by the temples or edifices in which angels 
worship." 

s 



274 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 

"What, then, is the character of these temples?" I 
asked. 

" They differ in each heaven, and also in each society. 
The temples in the spiritual heaven are more ornate | 
than those of the celestial heaven. Some temples are 
tabernacles of palms and groves of trees. Every element ! 
in the temples, however, is representative, a divinely con- I 
ceived allegory wrought out into what seems like stone or j 
wood. Heavenly plants, which are significant as well as 
beautiful, are made to twine around the capitals of the 
columns in far greater perfection than does the lotus, the 
acanthus, or the lily around the capitals of columns j 
made by man. It was from heaven that the old builders 
received their ideas of the massive and the stately, the \ 
graceful and beautiful. Moses was permitted to see in ( 
the Mount the patterns which he was commanded to 
imitate in the tabernacle : what he saw objectively with 
his spiritual eyes, other originators of architecture saw 
subjectively by the eyes of their understanding : Moses ; 
saw clearly what they only dimly and with laborious 
effort conceived. Yet the original of all beauty and order 
is heavenly; the idea, whether actually seen or conceived j 
in the mind, has descended from heaven, and it descends 
from heaven only because such an idea is concreted there. 
You need not ask whether the styles of such temples be 
Gothic or classic ; they are of all styles, of which indeed 
earthly styles are no more than faint types and adumbra- 
tions. A temple is the fixed embodiment of four ideas, 
— beauty, stability, harmony, and worship; but these four 
and all other ideas are everywhere represented and 
embodied in heaven." 

" A modern poetess has said of a splendid temple, it | 
was i music frozen into stone/ " I observed. 

"The figure is apt and graceful," rejoined Sophos. 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 275 

"It illustrates what I mean by beauty, stability, and 
harmony. To it needs to be added the further idea of 
worship. Hence heavenly temples are not only places 
for worship, but also places provocative of worship. The 
wise ones of the heavens discern in every form a repre- 
sentative type of something which exists in the highest 
temple of all, the Divine Humanity of the Lord. Their 
lordly proportions typify His majesty ; the radiance that 
streams down into them from God figures the fulness of 
glory with which the Divine Humanity is filled ; their 
roofs are all diaphanous, to show that true light comes 
only from above ; the jewellery with which they blaze 
represents the wondrous diversity of Divine truth ; the 
self-kindled and ever-burning fires upon their altar sym- 
bolize the unceasing glow of the Divine love ; their 
chancels front the east, so that all who enter may 
gaze on the Sun of Righteousness; they are permanent 
concretions of the idea of worship, and types of the 
august Being whom in heaven all worship and acknow- 
ledge as their Saviour, Father, Lord ! " 
"Who are the builders?" I inquired. 
" The Lord, operating through the states of the angels," 
rejoined Sophos. " But this operation is twofold in 
character, an immediate and objective production of 
things which correspond to the states of will and thought 
of the angels, typified in the things which surround them ; 
and also the production of external objects by means of 
the angels themselves, who therein act as voluntary 
agents, striving to fix into objective visibleness their own 
conception of spiritual things. Of this latter mode of 
production we shall speak presently, when we come to 
I reflect on the arts in heaven." 

" Are there periodic times for worship ? " I asked. 
"As I have already said, there are no days and nights 



276 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



in heaven, such as on earth, • there is no night there 3 ' 
and there is no time there. Instead of the successions 
of time, there are successions or changes of state. The 
gates of the temples are never shut : in any state, any 
angel may enter therein, and bow down before the Lord. 
Yet there are states which periodically recur, and which 
impel the angels to unite in worship. During such states 
worship is richest ; the augmented number of worshippers 
intensifies the sphere of worship, and the worshippers 
reap the recompence in internal peace, light, and joy." 

"And the forms of worship?" I inquired. 

" Vary according to the character of the angels in each 
heaven, and in each society; and likewise according to 
the then present state of the worshippers," said Sophos. 
" Worship in some societies is overpoweringly magnificent 
in outward pomp and ceremony, with splendidly robed 
priests and acolytes, gorgeous processions, clouds of 
incense, wonderful choruses of song, blazing pillars of 
light representatively streaming down from God Himself, 
and multitudes of the heavenly hosts visibly bending to- 
wards the transparent roof of the temple, audibly joining 
in the praises of the worshippers. All that the loftiest 
dream of the Christian dramatist ever conceived of the 
possible in worship, the open communion of higher and 
lower intelligences, the meeting-place of God and man, 
crowded with all images which could typify the soaring 
of human aspirations toward the Highest, and the com- 
ing down of the Divine Spirit over and around the 
worshippers, are, at such seasons, far more than realized. 
In other societies, worship is simpler in form and more 
interior in character : the angels bow in the solemnity of 
silence, and inwardly receive of love and light from the 
great Giver of good, who eternally metes out to each 
soul according to its ability to receive." 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



277 



"Judged, then, according to a heavenly standard, either 
an aesthetic or a simplistic form of worship is equally 
right/' I observed. 

"Equally right, and equally accepted by the Lord," 
replied Sophos. " The mode and form are only acces- 
sories to worship ; the essential is the spirit in which 
worship is entered upon and conducted. When the soul 
offers the best and highest of which it is capable, it can 
do no more : to offer less would be to rob God. To 
some, what you style 'aesthetic' forms of worship would 
seem wholly out of harmony with their perception of the 
Divine character, and of the true attitude of a worshipping 
soul. To others, what you style 6 simplistic ' worship 
would seem bare, meagre, and impoverished. In the 
heavens, there is room for all good men ; and there is 
ample scope for every variety of form by which the 
worshipping soul may approach the Lord. Just as all 
forms of government are best for those whom they best 
suit, so every mode of worship is best to those to whom 
it best expresses the idea of worship, and seems the most 
fitting embodiment of the spirit of thanksgiving and 
praise." 

" I thank you, Sophos," I exclaimed. " This must be 
true. Then they pray in heaven?" 

"Yes," rejoined Sophos, "they pray in heaven. But 
having had all remembrance of sin wiped out of their 
consciousness, and being purified from all dispositions 
to evil, the prayers of angels admit of no confession. 
Supplication and thanksgiving are alone heard there. 
Heavenly prayer, therefore, is for spiritual blessings 
only; for growth in love and intelligence, in submissive- 
ness and obedience ; trusting implicitly to the Infinite 
Wisdom to mould all external things into harmony with 
His will, and the best interests of His creatures." 



278 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



"And the priests pray, and the preachers teach," I 
observed musingly. " Have they anything like the Holy 
Supper in heaven ? w 

" They have that of which the Holy Supper was the 
earthly type and promise, — ' the wedding-supper of the 
Lamb,' the internal reception of goodness and truth, of 
love and wisdom from the Lord, to close the evening of 
each state, so as to renew them for the next. This feast, 
like all heavenly ideas, is also rendered objective; and j 
their feasts of love are to them the perpetual supper of 
an ever-renewed marriage-union between their souls and 
the Divine Bridegroom, the Lord. Then is fulfilled in 
them the Divine promise, ' I will not drink henceforth of I 
this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new 
with you in my Father's Kingdom' (Matt. xxvi. 29)." 

" There must, therefore," added Dokeos, after a pause, 
spent by me in meditation, " be a large variety of angelic 
employments connected with associated worship, which 
indicates another answer to your question, 6 What do the 
angels do ? ' It is with priests and preachers, as it is 
with rulers, and, indeed, with all in the heavens, the 
angel whose use it is performs each specific duty ; each 
comes into his place and does his work ; all serve ; and 
in his meed of service, by enhancing the happiness of all, 
each secures his own." 

" Would that I were there ! " I exclaimed. 

" Friend ! " said Sophos, and the word thrilled and 
melted me, "to be where the Lord appoints, to do 
what the Lord directs, to receive what the Lord gives, — 
this is the only wisdom. The highest angel feels himself 
to be most thoroughly his own when He most fully sub- 
mits Himself to the Lord. Whether on earth, or in the 
World of Spirits, or in heaven, the place where each 
is, is the best that his state will permit. It is his present 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO t 279 



place ; to wish to change it would be to lose the present 
in dreams of the future. Human existence is actually 
only in the Now, and the Here; when the Then and the 
There become to the soul the Now and the Here, they 
will belong to the soul. Use well the Now, act well in 
the He7'e, and the changes of place and the mutations of 
time will all be cared for in the providence of Him to 
whom there is no great or little ; for whom nothing is too 
vast or too insignificant ; who presides over the destinies 
of the universe, and counts every hair of the head; who 
feeds the perennial fires of the sun, and lights the torch 
of the glow-worm ; and who, in the midst of the chorus- 
ing praises of all the heavens, can hear with infinite pity 
the wail of the humblest child that suffers and mourns. 
Genuine worship is the doing of the will of God ; men 
may worship Him everywhere, because everywhere they 
can do His will." 



Teaching in Heaven. 

"You have spoken of teaching in heaven," I re- 
marked ; " tell me of this." 

" There are two joys connected with Divine truth," said 
Dokeos, " the joy of perceiving or knowing, and the 
greater joy of communicating knowledge. Both these 
joys are realized in heaven. All these continually grow 
wiser for ever. Yet the progress of angels in knowledge 
is gradual ; for though eternally advancing, the intellect 
of angels is only finite. Were it not gradual and succes- 
sive, the advance in knowledge could not be eternal. A 
rate of progress being inevitable, it is likewise inevitable 
that some advance more rapidly than do others, or in 
some directions, or as to some subjects. There must, 
therefore, ever be the wiser and the less wise, not only as 



28o WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO t 



to general knowledge, but also as to the knowledge of 
particular subjects. Hence comes the possibility of in- 
struction ; and, indeed, its necessity. The great distinc- 
tion between the genius of Christianity and the genius of 
worldliness is that the one enforces the principle, Give ; 
the other, the motive, Get. The law of heaven is the 
law of giving, as the Saviour enunciated it, ' Freely ye 
have received, freely give!' The angels delight to obey 
this law, and it is one of the delights of the wiser to 
teach, as it is ever the delight of the less wise to learn. :, 

" I can see that there must be differences of wisdom 
among the angels," I observed. "Those who have 
enjoyed instruction for thousands of years must be wiser 
than they who are relatively new-comers into the heavens. 
Adam must be wiser than the newest-born angel." 

" Progress in knowledge, however, is, as I have said, 
according to genius or character,'' continued Dokeos ; 
" for character dominates and determines all things in 
the heavens. In this respect it is in heaven as on earth, 
each soul pursues the line of study to which he is attracted 
by natural aptitude, and advances most rapidly along that 
line. There is, however, this difference between earthly 
and heavenly knowledge : on earth many errors are 
mistaken for truths, many follies and falsities for wisdom; 
in heaven, this is impossible. There, knowledge may be 
imperfect because deficient ; but the false is never ac- 
cepted as the true, just as the evil is never mistaken for 
the good. So far as each sees, each perceives the truth, 
the difference of perception is in degree." 

" Then there are varieties of subjects of angelic study?" 
I asked. " Can you enumerate some of them?" 

" Certainly," replied Dokeos. " The great science of 
heaven is Theosophy : the angels unceasingly endeavour 
to learn more of the wisdom of God. But the wisdom of 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



281 



God is displayed in all things which He has made: hence 
the sciences of heaven take cognizance of all His works. 
Hence Theosophy is the science which includes, formu- 
lates, and avails itself of all sciences. Every natural 
science has its spiritual side, analogous in all respects to 
the earthly science, of which, indeed, the spiritual science 
is the heavenly prototype. All things of the natural 
universe are only effects produced by spiritual causes, 
just as the natural body of a man derives its existence 
from his spiritual body. They whose delight it was on 
earth to study the science of effects, can, in the heavens, 
study the science of causes. Earthly science is obliged 
to hypothesize causes, and hence come a thousand errors ; 
heavenly science discerns and classifies causes, and thence 
perceives and comprehends effects. But, further, as the 
Great First Cause of all secondary causes is infinitely wise, 
and inasmuch as His infinite wisdom is manifested alike 
in every operation, and as the finite percipient can never 
comprehend the infinite wisdom of God, eternal progress 
is possible along the line of any one subject of angelic 
study. 

" The studies are various," continued Dokeos. " There 
is, for example, an astronomy of the heavens, that strives 
to comprehend the ever-shining sun of the spiritual 
world \ that seeks also to understand the sun and moon 
and stars which representatively may be found in human 
souls ; that endeavours, above all, to discern the connec- 
tion between these effects in that universe and the Great 
First Cause of all. To know the nature of the mediate 
forces which lie behind all the galaxies of the natural 
universe, maintaining systems moving at vast distances, 
with immense velocities, and operating on each other, 
and with defined powers of attraction and repulsion ; to 
understand how they were first initialed out of the Divine 



282 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



thought, and fixed as material forms in a universe of 
matter ; to perceive God in the continual act of creating, 
to trace His methods, and even to assist as secondary 
operators in such tremendous results ; — here is range 
enough for the mightiest intellects that earth has seen, 
and who, during their earth-life, felt driven by a Divine 
impulse to the study of such themes." 

" Range enough/' I answered. " And geology?" 

" In heaven is seen to be a twofold thing. The 
geology of the natural world is representatively mirrored 
in man's nature ; as, indeed, ail heavenly science recog- 
nises the radical relation existing between the human 
things in man and the material things in nature. Every 
heavenly scientist, therefore, is perforce a student of man. 
But the substances of which the floor and ground of 
heaven itself are composed do not less display the un- 
utterable patience of God, working through ages for the 
destined end, than do the strata of earth : they indicate 
order and succession, the changes of development, for in 
heaven whatever has been is never wholly destroyed, 
traces remain, and to track these traces is the work of 
the heavenly geologist \ they lead him at once to the 
better understanding of heaven, of the nature of angels, 
and of the operation and character of God. Surely, we 
may here discern an eternal scope for the exercise of 
powers of investigation, and for the realization of active 
delight from the pursuit of such knowledge." 

" Ample scope, Dokeos," I said. " And mathematics?" 

" Are there no numbers, forces, and forms in heaven 
to supply subjects for a heavenly calculus?" demanded 
Dokeos. "Is God less the great Geometer in the adjust- 
ment of causes than in the arrangement of effects? 
Myriads of new applications of mathematics must be 
.possible in heaven, which is a real world, full of substan- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DOf 283 

tial forms, illumined by light emanating from an actual 
sun, and every production of which world is truly the 
subject of heavenly law operating in heavenly order as 
natural things are subject to natural laws. The science 
of effects in the material plane can be rigorously under- 
stood only by means of mathematics ; the science of 
heaven, which includes the knowledge of both causes and 
effects, will need the same intellectual instrument. Let 
me impress the idea on your memory : inasmuch as there 
must be a cause for all natural effects, and the spiritual 
world is the cause-world, there must be a spiritual 
analogue of all natural science. Hence there is a 
spiritual physiology, which shall include the spiritual 
bodies of the angels, the relation between the anatomy 
of that body and the anatomy of mind, the arrangement 
of heaven itself, which is but a reduplication, on a grander 
scale, of the human form ; and also the resurrection-body 
of the Lord. There is a zoology of heaven, the laws 
which underlie the production in heaven of animated 
types of the affections and thoughts of angels, and also 
the production on earth of animated forms. The forma- 
tion of animals will there be investigated from the higher 
standpoint of cause and law, instead of by the more 
toilsome and less fruitful process of generalizing effects 
in order to thence deduce laws. In like manner, there 
must be a botany of the plants that bloom in the paradises 
of heaven ; a biology of spiritual life received into angelic 
forms, emanating according to fixed principles from the 
sole Source of all life ; social statics pertaining to the socie- 
tary organization of angels ; dynamics of spiritual forces ; 
optics of angelic vision ; hydrostatics of the rivers and 
fountains of the water of life ; pneumatics of the atmo- 
sphere which angels breathe ; heavenly acoustics ; and in 
the study of all these sciences the explorers will investi- 



284 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



gate not only the heavenly facts and laws which these 
sciences will collate and classify, but also their representa- 
tives in the lower plane of nature, as likewise in the in- 
tellectual plane of the spiritual constitution of the angels 
themselves, and finally in the character of God. Dwell- 
ing in the realm of causes, they will reason from cause to 
effect as to all natural things, and from effects to the First 
Cause as they trace up the origin of all they behold." 

" The enumeration overwhelms me, Dokeos," I ex- 
claimed. 

"Students of theology, specifically so called, have in 
heaven their never-ending fields of labour and research," 
continued Dokeos ; " for there will remain for them the 
eternal paradox of necessity and liberty, angels seeming 
to themselves to exist from themselves, while yet they 
are only recipients of life \ the origin of evil, and the 
changes it introduced into the economy of heaven ; the 
wondrous ways of Divine providence ; the nature of 
redemption, the process by which Jehovah became in- 
carnate, the process by which He glorified the humanity 
that He assumed, its relation to His Divinity, the mode 
of the twofold operation, the eternal consequences of the 
unition and its influence upon angels, as also on men. 
God will still be their study, both in the abysses of His 
Deity, and in the methods of His manifestations. The 
Sun of Righteousness is nearer to them and larger, its 
light is clearer, and their sight is keener than is the 
case with man ; yet the angels will for ever ' desire to look 
into these things/ and will never be able to fully fathom 
out the infinite depths of Divine love and wisdom which 
such investigations will disclose. In such arcana of 
heavenly wisdom the preachers of heaven are high 
teachers, and their hearers grow wise and humbled as 
they listen and learn." 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DOf 285 



" That must be true," I remarked. 

" From science, let us turn to history," resumed Dokeos. 
" Think you that the heavens have no history, or that it 
is unworthy of study ? If so, angels must have lost their 
memories, or the events of heavenly life must have no 
interest for the new-comers. Human histories are com- 
posed partly by means of digging into the uncertain 
quarries of old writers, or the compiling of traditions, and 
partly by the exercise of a reasoning imagination : 
heavenly histories are written in the memories of eye- 
witnesses of the facts which they narrate, who saw with- 
out liability to err, and who repeat without the possibility 
of deception. Earthly histories can compass only a few 
thousand years at most : the memories of the angels 
extend far back into the incalculable past. Millions of 
them are capable of teaching : millions more must be 
desirous to learn. The archives of heaven surely must 
furnish wondrous stories of angelic communion, the 
inter-relations of societies and heavens ; the varying 
characters of successive additions to the societies, or the 
formation of new societies of heaven; the increase in 
social perfection by the institution of such new societies ; 
their varying operation into the World of Spirits, and the 
correspondingly diversified operation of the Divine Spirit 
into the heavens themselves; the uses each angel has 
individually performed along the ages, and how the 
societary use has been built up by constant increase and 
by continual development. It may be permitted to 
them occasionally to relapse into their external memory, 
at least sufficiently to . remember the part they took in 
the affairs of the earth on which they began to exist; 
and their recollections may become a means of contrast 
with their present state, so that from their old and earthly 
standpoint they may turn and survey their now exceeding 



286 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



height. The true biography of every one of the angels 
would form a marvellous story, and there are countless 
myriads of angels ! Both their inner and their outer life 
are full of activity; each suggests a history, for each 
embodies one. The neophytes of heaven are eager 
learners; well may they rejoice, for they find in the 
heavens innumerable multitudes, each angel of whom 
will ever delight to teach ! " 

"And their methods of teaching?" I asked. 

" Are adapted with heavenly precision to the capacity 
of each learner," replied Dokeos. " Some are taught 
representatively, as in living pictures or tableaux, the 
things they need to learn. Some are taught by set dis- 
course ; some by private conversation ; to some are given 
problems to work out; while to others access is open to 
the written wisdom of the heavens." 

" There is, then, writing practised in heaven ? " I 
asked. 

Writing in Heaven. 

" Surely this idea cannot surprise you," rejoined 
Dokeos. " If the Word exists in heaven, it must be 
written; and the Psalmist declares that it is for ever 
settled in heaven. Turn to the Scriptures. John saw 
in the spiritual world a book written within and on the 
outer side, and sealed with seven seals (Rev. v. i). 
Ezekiel saw there ' a man with a writer's ink-horn by 
his side ' (Ezek. ix. 2) ; he also saw that ' a hand was 
sent unto me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein, and 
he spread it before me, and it was written within and 
without, and there was written within lamentations, and 
mourning, and woe' (Ezek. ii. 9, 10). Such a roll was 
also seen by Zechariah (v. 1, 2). The handwriting on 
the wall of the palace of Belshazzar might convince you 
that in the spiritual world the art of writing is not un- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 287 



known. The finger of God Himself wrote the ten com- 
mandments on the tables of stone given to Moses. On 
the gates and foundations of the New Jerusalem were 
written the names of the tribes and of the apostles. In 
addition to the book of life, the internal memory of each 
soul that is judged, there were other 6 books opened' 
(Rev. xx. 12); and the angel who came down from 
heaven clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his 
head, whose face was as the sun and his feet as pillars 
of fire, had ' a little book in his hand ' (Rev. x. 1, 2). 

"It certainly cannot be said," continued Dokeos, 
" that there is anything derogatory to the idea of angel- 
hood to suppose that they should sometimes desire to 
write, or be able to give effect to their desire. It may, 
perhaps, be imagined that the angels are above the 
necessities which writing would imply : if so, where is 
the proof? Instruction must certainly be given : must 
all instruction be given orally? Surely some principles 
of heavenly wisdom may be too profound to be all at 
once grasped or remembered, and which the neophytes 
would desire should be written objectively, and which, 
therefore, would be written, either immediately from the 
Lord, or mediately through the voluntary instrumentality 
of the angels themselves. Angels are not all-wise, nor 
are their capacities all equally powerful. Though in- 
describably superior to earth's wisest, purest, and best, 
their ability to learn and to retain is not unlimited. The 
problems with which they grapple are proportioned to their 
intellectual powers, and such a help as writing may supply, 
or such a means of communicating angelic wisdom to 
less wise ones as writing could furnish, must surely be 
within their reach and not unworthy of their use. 

" Besides," continued Dokeos, " there are, as, if you 
will consider the matter, you will see that there must be, 
poets in heaven. All there are poets ; but in heaven, as 



288 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



on earth, there are some into whose open and receptive 
souls down-streaming intelligence enters, and assumes 
this orderly and beautiful form. The art of poetry, like 
every other art, in its highest aspects is Divine. Shall all 
the poetry of heaven be preserved mentally only, or only 
be sung or recited to a group of rapt listeners ? There 
are heavenly lyrics : the angels sung ' a new song ; 1 John 
heard ' the song of Moses and the Lamb.' Is this the 
only form by which the poetic faculty of angels shall ex- 
press itself? Is it impossible for an angelic Shakespeare 
or Goethe to produce a heavenly drama? Was the 
genius of Dante extinguished when he entered into the 
realities of which he had conceived previously? Is it 
profane to believe that Homer or Virgil, Milton or Tasso, 
transplanted to heaven, may there produce epics as far 
superior to their earthly compositions as heaven is higher 
than the earth ? The idea of there being angelic psalms 
and hymns easily falls within the sphere of your thought; 
the sweet singers of Israel when raised to heaven will 
still continue to sing ; but psalms and hymns are only 
modes and forms of poetry. The poetry of heaven is 
surely as diversified as that of earth. There is love in 
heaven; there is married love in heaven; such love 
there ever retains its virgin freshness ; and virgin love 
ever transforms the lover into a poet ! Of course dirges 
and requiems shall there be unknown ; the tragic muse 
shall no longer conjure up its visions of suffering and 
sorrow; but angelic love, angelic insight into character, 
angelic contemplation of the scenery of heaven, and 
angelic meditation on the universe of God, will supply 
to their poetry never-failing and appropriate themes. 
Poets on earth are men and women who have been gifted 
by the Lord with keener insight, tenderer hearts more 
melodiously tuned than others : it would be-little and 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



289 



belie heaven to imagine that in their transit to the higher 
world earth's purest and sweetest poets should lose their 
noblest gift. If, then, there are poets, it is inevitable 
that there should be written, as well as spoken, poems 
and lyrics in heaven. 

" But if poems are thus written," continued Dokeos, 
" surely graver and more scientific themes which are con- 
genial to minds of a severer and more powerful character, 
may also be treated in writing ; angelic biography, and 
the history of heavenly societies, may also be thus trea- 
sured; and in this way, as I said, the written wisdom of 
angels, the literature of ages of angelic life, may come to 
be studied by the less wise learners whom the more wise 
teach." 

" The argument convinces me, Dokeos," I replied. 
" But writing necessitates writing materials ; whence do 
they come, and how are they produced ? 99 

The Arts in Heaven. 

" Many of them spontaneously, by the creative opera- 
tion of God acting through the will and thought of the 
angels," rejoined Sophos. " They will to write, and the 
materials are there ; they will that the materials shall 
become permanent, and both materials and the writing- 
remain ; they will that both shall disappear and cease to 
be, and both writing and material vanish away. Writing 
in heaven is not the tedious and wearisome process which 
it is on earth ; for the external surroundings of the angels 
are in perfect and instantaneous harmony with their in- 
ternal state of will and thought. Their powers of pro- 
duction are proportioned to all their other powers in 
intensity, extensiveness, and rapidity of execution. I 
can only afford you a statement of the fact : you can 



290 WHAT DG THE ANGELS DO ? 



comprehend hardly anything of the process. On earth, 
owing to the fixity, the comparative immobility of matter, 
results are attained only by means of slow and laborious 
processes of manufacture : in heaven there is neither time 
nor space * to think of a person is to see him, of a thing 
is to behold it; to love is to be present with the object 
beloved ; to will a thing is to possess it ; to will it to be 
diverse from what it was before is to change it ; to desire 
its absence is to secure its departure ; to wish for it again 
is to obtain its reappearance. This creative power in 
its infinite fulness exists supremely in God ; all things 
that exist are the concretions of His Divine will and 
thought. Somewhat of this creative power is com- 
municated from the Lord to the angels ; and, if you will 
consider it, somewhat analogous to this is likewise pos- 
sessed by man on earth. Even on earth man's will and 
thought transform, modify, develop, and, so far as form 
extends, create things. The chief difference between 
the power as exercised by men and angels is to be seen 
in the substance on which each operates. Man deals 
with relatively inert, immobile, and fixed substances, 
termed matter ; he has, therefore, to operate on matter, 
not solely according to the laws of mind, but according 
as those laws of mind are restricted and limited by the 
laws pertaining to matter. 

" Hence by slow processes, availing himself of natural 
laws, he can erect cities on the grassy banks of a river, 
change wildernesses into a garden, increase the natural 
fertility of the soil, people pastures with modified forms 
of domestic animals, convert pigments into pictures, 
bridge the ocean with floating palaces, and girdle the 
world with telegraph wires ; he can move into juxta- 
position things not previously so related, and the result 
is his creative or productive triumphs. In heaven, how- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 291 



ever, the laws of mind are all-powerful and solely opera- 
tive ; the substances of heaven are all subject to those 
laws, for it is the spiritual world ; they are, consequently, 
altogether subservient to the will and thought of the 
angels, and are dependent thereon. Such states as are 
permanent or habitual with them are permanently illus- 
trated in the external things which surround them ; such 
as are only transient are temporarily illustrated ; of such 
as vary the illustrations or representatives vary, and this, 
too, whether the things have been spontaneously pro- 
duced through them, or voluntarily produced by their 
active agency. Do I make my meaning clear ? " 

"I understand your meaning," I replied. "Please 
proceed." 

" On earth," continued Sophos, "men are surrounded 
with two classes of objects, the things produced directly 
by what is termed Nature, and the things which have 
been modified, or even produced by human art. The 
permanence of these things depends on the course of 
nature, and the renewed application of art, arresting the 
decay, which is rendered inevitable by the very laws of 
nature, which assert that change shall pass upon all 
things. But human art is the result of active states of 
will, thought, and operative ability which men have ex- 
perienced : God, operative everywhere, has been pleased 
to form or modify His creation according to the new 
terms imposed upon His operation by the exercise of 
human wills, thoughts, and executive power. He has 
thus permitted to man a share, and no unimportant share, 
in the production of earthly things. In like manner, in 
heaven, God surrounds the angels with the things of 
Nature, — 6 Nature/ that is as itself manifests in heaven, 
— and He, likewise, permits to the angels an analogous 
share in the production and modifications of the things 



292 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



which are external to them. Human art has, therefore, 
its analogue in angelic art, just as angelic science is the 
heavenly analogue of earthly science. The difference in 
the substances, conditions, and laws of the two worlds 
being remembered, the old axiom is true, — 6 Whatever 
exists on earth in an earthly manner exists also in heaven 
in a heavenly manner.' n 

" It is a most comprehensive conception, Sophos," I 
answered. "What arts are practised in heaven other 
than that of writing?" 

Dokeos replied to me. " Let us, in the first place, 
think of music, and of what it comprehends. Whence 
comes the wondrous ability to catch the inner harmonies 
of things, and so to write them down as that others may 
enjoy their possession, and reproduce their chords ? From 
God, the All-harmonious ; through the heavens, where 
harmony reigns. This glorious gift seems to link its pos- 
sessors already to the angels. Can you conceive that the 
great composers of earth should, in their transit to the 
spiritual world, lose the mysterious faculty, or the desire 
for the delight which is produced by its exercise ? Must 
not their faculty be wondrously augmented and exalted 
as they listen to the pealing symphonies of heaven, where 
the love of music is possessed by all, and all are capable 
of enjoying its productions? Must not earth's ablest 
composers find in heaven still greater masters of this holy 
art, and among the disciples of whom they will rejoicingly 
enrol themselves ? 

" Every idea of heaven includes the idea of music, — 
harpers playing on golden harps, and the sound of trum- 
pets long and loud. Is this music merely inspirational, 
inbreathed as an impulse into myriads, who, without 
previous discipline or preconcert, play different instru- 
ments, or sing their various parts in the full-voiced har- 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



293 



monies, just as the birds pour spontaneous praise? Oris 
it not more reasonable, more human, and more ennobling 
to think, that they whose special endowment it is to 
receive this effluence of Divine love are first among their 
fellows in this respect, and that the Lord supplies to 
them their appropriate use in teaching, training, and 
leading the vast choruses of heaven? There is order 
in this, as in all other matters pertaining to heaven ; and 
because there is order, progress, development, and in- 
crease in perfection are possible and certain. Birds 
cannot combine their melodies into harmonies, nor can 
they develop and increase their powers of song. Their 
warbled notes are called song only by a metaphor ; birds 
whistle, man is the only being who can sing ! The cap a 
bility of improving beyond the limits of all present con- 
ception extends to the musical faculty of man, as to all 
others ; and in heaven the faculty, possessed on earth in 
its initial and initiatory stages, will go on increasing for 
ever. Heavenly lyrics will be sung by heavenly soloists, 
and angelic choirs will pour forth angelic anthems in the 
hearing of rejoicing multitudes of angels, who will recog- 
nise and reverence the gifts of the poets and the singers, 
just as they will recognise and reverence the gifts of all 
the rest. Both the words and the airs of sacred oratorios 
come from heaven : the words are chiefly taken from the 
Divine Word : the music is the dim and faint echo of 
heavenly harmony resounding in the soul of the com- 
poser, and registered by him as well as he was able, that 
others might also hear. 

" Music is the beautiful as heard ; it is love rendered 
audible. The highest human conception of beauty, and 
the highest human experience of love, fall far below the 
angelic standard ; yet the human conception of beauty, 
and the human experience of love, are designed to be 



294 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO t 

preparations of human souls for the greater fulness of both, 
which the good will realise in the other world. Because 
thus preparatory, they are similar in kind, though dif- 
ferent in degree. Hence in heaven instruments such as 
man never yet imagined, voices such as mortals never 
heard, orchestral arrangements such as never entered 
into the heart of man to conceive of, and harmonies 
beyond the apprehensions of earth's most gifted masters, 
express angelic gratitude, adoration, and love." 

"I feel that this must be true, Dokeos," I rejoined. 
" Is the use of music confined to worship in heaven?" 

" Its highest use is in worship; but this is not its only 
use. There are weddings and festivals in heaven, of the 
enjoyments of which music, both instrumental and vocal, 
forms part. There are also concerts there. Social life 
is sweetened and solemnized in heaven by music, and 
this far more richly than among the most cultivated on 
earth. Indeed, all pure and holy cultivation of God- 
given faculties which can take place on earth, is but a 
preparation for higher and better things in heaven. 
This is the sacred sanction given to all true cultivation, 
and should be its highest incentive. 

" Angelic composers vary in their styles ; there is bright 
and beautiful music there, as well as grand and magnifi- 
cent ; delicious domestic songs as well as anthems and 
oratorios ; every orderly affection in heaven finds voice 
and bursts into melody, from the gladsome glee of chil- 
dren to the soaring adoration of heavenly hosts; the 
music is richly imitative, from the sighs of young lovers 
to the voice of thundering and of many waters." 

" There is one earthly use of music which surely is not 
to be found there," I observed, — "the opera." 

" Why not ? A parable is a drama in the historic form : 
a drama is a parable in a dramatic form. Is the parable 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 295 



whether written or performed, an unholy thing? Does 
the performing of a parable render it unheavenly? Is 
the histrionic art of infernal origin ? And if verse may 
be recited with dramatic accompaniments, why may it 
not be sung ? One of the means of angelic teaching is 
that of representation, or dramatic performances. The 
clumsy mechanism of the earthly stage fades into insig- 
nificance before the wondrous productions of the heavenly 
stage, where, as Sophos has said, formative laws operate 
through the will and thought of the angels. In some of 
the representative visions of the prophets angels and 
spirits performed their various parts, and events which 
were then in the future, became visibly rendered before 
the opened eyes of the seer. Were such dramas by 
such performers unlawful or improper? There is no 
machinery of instruction which can be rendered so effica- 
cious as the stage. The perversions which it has under- 
gone in the history of the world can be separated from 
its essential elements ; they are accidental associations, 
not essential elements. Nor is it merely because of its 
capability of furnishing instruction that the stage is a 
good and useful thing ; it can impart pleasure of an en- 
tirely innocent yet most vivid kind. Music, painting, 
manners, characters, poetry, can be united in stage repre- 
sentations, as nowhere else, to produce ineffaceable im- 
pressions, to excite noble sentiments, to illustrate great 
principles, and, I repeat it, to furnish pleasure. If your 
conception of heavenly life excludes the idea of pleasure, 
innocent gratifications of the soul's tastes, modify it at 
once, for you do heaven an injustice.'' 

" May I ask, then, if there is dancing in heaven ? " 

"Again I ask, why not? Dancing is rhythmical mo- 
tion," replied Dokeos; "it is joy expressing itself in 
bodily movements reduced into harmony with music. 



296 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



Is dancing 'unholy? It used to be a part of worship. 
The women of Israel celebrated their deliverance from 
Egypt with timbrels and dances (Exod. xv. 20). Jephthah's 
daughter came to meet her father with dances (Judg. xi. 
34) ; the women of Israel celebrated the victories of Saul 
and David with singing and dancing (1 Sam. xviii. 6) ; 
David danced before the Lord when he brought the ark 
from the house of Obed-edom (2 Sam. vi. 14); and the 
Psalmist enjoins the people ' to praise the Lord in the 
dance ' (Psa. cxlix. 3 ; cl. 4). One of the signs of the 
joy of the people of God in their return to the state of 
love and faith, represented by the rebuilding of Jerusalem, 
was to be, 6 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be 
built, O virgin of Israel ; thou shalt again be adorned 
with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of those 
who make merry. . . . Then shall the virgin rejoice in 
the dance, both young men and old together ; for I will 
turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and 
make them rejoice from their sorrow' (Jer. xxxi. 4, 13). 
Dancing is the gesticulatory language of joy : hence says 
David, 6 Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing' 
(Psa. xxx. 12). Surely the Lord did not condemn or 
prohibit dancing ; for in the parable of the prodigal son, 
He describes the signs of joy of the household as con- 
sisting of ' music and dancing' (Luke xv. 25); and He 
makes use of it as the basis of a most terrible rebuke : ' I 
have piped unto you, and ye have not danced ' (Matt. xi. 
7). Life in heaven is not of a sad or sombre type ; there 
is human joy of every variety, from the sprightly gaiety 
of orderly merriment to the soul's intensest rapture and 
ecstasy. Whatever fitly accords with such states, and 
whatever externally illustrates and represents such states, 
can be seen in heaven. There are the relatively wise 
and simple in heaven; but the wisest there are the 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



297 



freshest of heart and most joyous, though their joy may 
be less demonstrative than the gladness of the more 
simple." 

" While I am convinced of the probability of what you 
say, Dokeos," I remarked, "yet the idea of there being 
dramatic and operatic performances, concerts, and dances 
in heaven, will deeply shock the prejudices of the reli- 
gious, to whom devotion seems only to mean austerity 
and devoutness." 

" I can well believe it," rejoined Sophos. "The men- 
tal and moral atmosphere of the Christian Church has 
been made dark, and even poisoned, by the false ideal of 
religious life which has been set up. Men have erected 
a cruel, morose, and ascetic standard; transformed it 
into an idol, and felt ready to denounce, if not to perse- 
cute, all who refused to prostrate themselves before it. 
They have prohibited lawful and simple pleasures, cruci- 
fied innocent dispositions along with their lusts, and 
fancied they honoured God by dishonouring themselves. 
God is the creator of every disposition of human souls, 
the giver of every faculty ; there is nothing that is sinful 
in the faculty itself, the sin begins when its disorderly 
use begins. They might as well fancy they would serve 
God in mutilating the body, as to imagine that God is 
pleased with any crippling, mutilation, or repression of 
the soul. He rejoices in human joy. The Divine Father 
is glad in the gladness of His children. 

" The Christian religion has been corrupted by being 
conceived of as ascetic. The Flagellants were possessed 
of devils. In the World of Spirits their quality and in- 
ternal character is revealed: those who have practised 
the severest austerities inwardly burn with spiritual pride : 
they inwardly believe that they have acquired merit by 
reason of their self-inflicted sufferings, and seek to be 



298 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



honoured as almost divine. The practice of reverencing 
as ' saints ' such self-immolated victims of superstition 
has depraved the minds of Christians : the spirit under- 
lying the whole matter, both as to the motive for the 
austerities and for exalting those who have practised them 
in the Church, is Babylon — ' the lust of spiritual domi- 
nion ! 1 It has pandered to an infernal craving for exal- 
tation, and burdened believers with a host of unnatural 
models. Puritanism only gave a new direction to what 
Popery had agreed to endorse : in the one system, the 
few who had attained to an unnatural eminence were 
specially honoured ; in the other system, what was pos- 
sible only to a few was set up as a rule for all ; religion 
was rendered morose as well as austere ; and hearts that 
pretended to be overflowing with love to God proved their 
real state by being full of hatred to man. The whole was 
a slander against the All-beneficent, who has lavished 
beauty with profuse hands on the creation which He has 
made ; who has uttered His protest against such futilities 
in the sportive glee of childhood, and in the frolicsome 
gladness with which He has endowed the young of all ani- 
mated creatures ; who has painted the flowers with beauty, 
and tinged with glory the morning and evening skies ; 
who has in your climate decked the spring with garlands, 
ripened the glow of summer, scattered loveliness over the 
foliage of autumn, and made even winter charming with 
its fleecy covering of all-embracing snow. Sin has brought 
sorrow : the All-Merciful ever seeks to make His creatures 
forget sorrow in forgetting sin." 

"Such teaching, Sophos, is a glad and joyous gospel," 
I exclaimed. 

"It is truth, my friend," rejoined Sophos. " It may 
shock you even more to hear that there are sports and 
pastimes among the children who are taken from the 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



299 



gardens of earth and transplanted into heaven ; feats of 
strength, agility, and skill ; that they not only play, but 
laugh ; that the wise ones of heaven smile while witness- 
ing their happiness ; that the merriment of the youthful 
is a holy thing; and that their mirth is, in reality, 
homage rendered by them to the august Being who fills 
their hearts with joy and gladness." 

"It does not shock me, though it may startle many," I 
replied. 

" In describing the joy of the blessed in that holy state 
of love and faith, represented by the rebuilding of Jeru- 
salem, and its being reinhabited, the prophet declares, 
6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts : There shall yet old 
men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, 
and every man with his staff in his hand for multitude of 
days. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys 
and girls playing in the streets' (Zech. viii. 4, 5). The 
old men and women denote those who are full of mani- 
fold experience; their multitude of days describe the 
multitude of states through which they have passed ; the 
boys and girls depict the young perceptions and affec- 
tions of human and angelic souls, and their playing 
portrays their joy and rejoicing of heart. There is 
more true worship," continued Sophos, "in guileless 
gladness and self-forgetful joy than in all self-conscious 
states of austere self-repression, self-mutilation, and self- 
immolation. The duty of self-denial is to deny to our- 
selves all that is evil ; the privilege of self-sacrifice is 
consecrating all one is or has to the service of goodness 
in the love of the All-Good." 

" You convince as well as delight me," I said. " Let 
us now return to the arts in heaven. Dokeos spoke ot 
dramatic performances combining painting as well as 
history and the histrionic art ; — there is, then, 



3oo WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



"Painting in Heaven. 

" I can easily perceive what an inexhaustible amount 
of instruction the stage might supply. History could 
there continually repeat itself before multitudes of 
learners, all eyes and ears in order to drink in im- 
pressions as to what had been thought and said and 
done. I should, however, like you to dwell a little 
longer on the idea of painting." 

" Painting," replied Sophos, " is but one mode among 
many of communicating thought. Whatever be the 
means or vehicle of communicating to others the ideas 
which are communicated, the power is an art, and they 
who employ the means are artists. With some, the 
means employed consist of words ; we call them orators, 
poets, authors. With others, the means consist of sounds; 
we call them composers and musicians. With others, 
the means employed consist of solid forms ; we call 
them sculptors and modellers. Others employ buildings 
as their means; we call them architects. Others sub- 
serve themselves of pigments, and give us both form and 
colour; we call them painters. The idea which under- 
lies all art is, not imitation, but embodiment in such a way 
as may both preserve and communicate to others the 
conception which was formed in the mind of the artist 
concerning the subject of which he thought. Hence art 
is a God-like thing. The Divine thought clothes itself 
with substance, and becomes embodied in either the 
spiritual or the natural world, or in both. The thing 
which exists is thus the presentation on the plane of its 
existence of the Divine thought, of which it is the out- 
birth : it is therefore the representative or correspondent 
of the Divine thought, which bestowed existence upon it 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



301 



by calling it into being. In like manner, — though as far 
removed in degree as what is finite and derived is re- 
moved from what is infinite and original, — angelic and 
human artists seek to embody their thought in such 
materials as they have learned to control. God creates ; 
artists produce : He forms the substances which embody 
His creation ; they use substances created by Him 
which they can bend to their art. Their art is, as to its 
technical portion, the knowledge of, and the more or less 
perfect mastery over, the materials of which they sub- 
serve themselves; as to its ideal or intellectual portion, 
their art is to present to themselves and others their 
thought, and to leave this presentation of their thought 
as its representative and embodiment. Whether art 
exists in heaven or on earth, the philosophy of art is the 
same. Heavenly painters employ materials of which 
you can form no conception ; the modes of their work, 
and the effects they produce, are equally above your 
comprehension ; yet art is Divine in its origin, and there 
are painters in heaven." 

" We can also approach the same subject from another 
point of view," added Dokeos. " The love of the beauti- 
ful is a holy affection. The desire to behold the beauti- 
ful is a heavenly desire. In heaven this desire is abun- 
dantly gratified. The angels are beautiful : each angel is 
the embodiment in form of the holy affection which he 
or she most cherished. Their habitations, their raiment, 
the scenery among which they dwell, are all beautiful. 
The faculty to perceive and the ability to portray such 
beauty are derived from God, who desires that all should 
possess these powers, and who to this end has endowed 
all His rational creatures with some love or taste for art. 
Painting a scene is more than mere copying the scene ; 
it is the depicting of the idea of the scene which the 



j02 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



scene conveyed to the mind of the artist Thus every 
picture adds something of the artist's own to the scene 
he paints, and which could be added to it by none other 
than he. It renders an impression which otherwise could 
only be fleeting a fixed and permanent thing ; as 
permanent, that is, as the vehicle in which he works, in 
order to express and convey his idea. The faculty and 
ths desire to exercise it having come from God, they 
cannot be destroyed by death : they must continue to 
exist in angelic minds. The delight to the artist, and to 
others who gaze upon the productions of his art, being a 
pure and holy thing, it is heavenly; and whatever is 
heavenly must be possible in heaven. Hence pictorial 
art is possible in heaven ; there are painters there. 
Music and eloquence are not the only heavenly arts, 
the only means of conveying thought and of exciting 
emotions in heaven. As Sophos has said, what words 
are to the orator, and what sounds are to the musician, 
forms and colours are to the painter — vehicles of thought. 
Were painting impossible in heaven, then to those who 
have loved to paint, heaven would be a privation ; 
lessening, not increasing, their happiness. The grace of 
form and the glow of colour may be seen in heaven, not 
only in God's creation, but also in those representations 
by which angelic artists have sought to imitate the 
handiwork of God in their own manner, transfused with 
their own character, and embodying the idea which they 
received from the objects at which they gazed with 
admiration and love." 

" Then art-culture, on its noblest and best side," I 
remarked, " must be, so far, a preparation for heaven." 

"True," rejoined Sophos, " and the case is the same 
with all forms of culture. No soul is complete without 
the love of the beautiful : no education is perfect which 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 303 



has not drawn out this characteristic of the mind. 
Would the All-Good have been so prodigal of beauty 
in His creation, if He had not designed His rational 
creatures to perceive, to appreciate, and to delight in it ? 
Would the Great Artist have implanted in some souls 
the special faculty of art, and the desire to exercise it, if 
He had not intended it to be exercised ? " 

" No," I answered. " To imagine the contrary would 
be to reject Nature's revelation of the purposes of God." 

" All God's gifts have respect to eternity, for He is the 
Eternal. Time, indeed, is only the earthly fragment of 
the soul's eternal existence. What the soul possesses it 
retains : what it delights in it will for ever desire and 
will be able to realize. Earthly art, therefore, is the 
earthly foretaste of heavenly art, just as earthly science is 
of heavenly science," resumed Sophos. " Heavenly art, 
however, is far more diversified in range, in manner, in 
materials, in durability than is earthly art. There the 
painters paint because it is their love. Variety but adds 
to the combined perfection ; and detraction or jealousy, 
like envy, are unknown." 

" But pictures involve exhibitions or galleries," I said, 
" private or public collections." 

" The art galleries of heaven are as open to all as the 
temples," replied Dokeos. " None would think of pos- 
sessing for himself or of retaining from others the slightest 
enjoyment which the beholding of a beautiful picture 
could impart. And in those galleries learners walk and 
work, each is led by the attraction of love to the selection 
of the style which each prefers, and the object of all is 
the common embellishment of their society and heaven. 
What they wish not to preserve ceases to exist ; the most 
perfect alone remains. An earthly gallery can only in- 
clude the artistic work of a few hundreds of years : who 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



can count the ages, examples of the art of which hang on 
the dustless, mothless, incorruptible walls of the galleries 
of heaven ? " 

" And with the old artists themselves still living and 
working, and able to explain their own works/' I ex- 
claimed. " Oh what a glorious school must be there ! " 

" All earth's wisest and best, developed in heaven into 
being wiser and better, are there for teachers," replied 
Dokeos ; " and all earth's most receptive are there to 
learn ; and the process shall advance for ever ! " 

"The thought confounds and oppresses me," I said. 
" When I think of the masterpieces of earth, and remem- 
ber after what a small number of years of self-education 
and development they were produced, and with what 
refractory materials; and then think of the best of these 
great masters advancing along centuries and millenniums 
of practice; retaining all their earliest freshness of ima- 
gination, their keenness of vision and power of insight, 
their splendid enthusiasm and poetic fervour; enriching 
their labours with manifold experience, and working with 
heaven's own tints, what art-miracles may we not expect 
from them ! If their earthly conceptions of the angelic 
were so wonderfully beautiful, what must not their heavenly 
portraits of angels be ? But," I added, " does not the 
Divine law against making graven images, and the like- 
nesses of things in heaven or on earth, traverse this 
glorious notion ? " 

The Law against Graven Images. 

" The law forbids such fabrication of images for the 
purposes of idolatry," rejoined Sophos; " certainly it does 
not prohibit all art. It was given to a people prone to 
idolatry, and the purpose and reason of the law in the 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 305 

letter explain the law. Yet God consecrated to the use 
of both the tabernacle and temple the highest art of 
which the times were capable. The art of the gold- 
smith, the jeweller, and the embroiderer, was sanctioned 
and sanctified in making the things of the tabernacle 
'according to the pattern' which had been shown to 
Moses in the Mount. The winged cherubims over the 
mercy-seat, the cherubims embroidered on the inner 
curtains, the knops and flowers and almond-like bowls 
of the candlestick, and the sacred name written upon the 
high priest's crown, were so many illustrations of art, 
dedicated to the service of God. Indeed, the skill of 
Bezaleel and Aholiab is declared to have been an in- 
spiration of God : 6 1 have called Bezaleel . . . and I 
have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and 
in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner 
of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in 
gold and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, 
to set them, and in carving of timber to work in all 
manner of workmanship. And behold I have given him 
Aholiab . . . and in the hearts of all that are wise- 
hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that 
I have commanded thee ; the tabernacle of the congrega- 
tion, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat 
that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, 
and the table and its furniture, and the pure candlestick 
with all its furniture, and the altar of incense, and the 
altar of burnt-offering with all its furniture, and the laver 
and its foot, and the cloths of service, and the holy 
garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his 
sons, to minister in the priests' office, and the anointing 
oil, and the sweet incense for the holy place : according 
to all that I have commanded thee si] all they do' (Exod. 
xxxi. i-n). God had given this specialty of wisdom to 

u 



3o6 WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO ? 



these men for the performance of their special uses. He 
claimed the merit of their genius as His own ! 

" The use of the arts in the erection of the temple of 
Solomon is even more marked. The cherubims of olive- 
tree wood ; the carved figures of cherubims and palm- 
trees and open flowers on the walls and doors of the 
oracle, and on the doors of the temple ; the pomegranate 
capitals of the brazen pillars constructed by Hiram of 
Tyre, with ' lily work' on the top of the pillars; the 
twelve oxen on which the brazen laver stood, with 
'flowers of lilies' on the edge; the lions, oxen, and 
cherubims with which the border of the laver was en- 
riched ; the lions, cherubims, and palm-trees engraved 
on the ledges 'according to the proportions of every one/ 
— these were so many instances of art, sanctioned, sancti- 
fied, and accepted by God for the purposes of worship. 
Nay, even as was the case with Moses, who 'saw in the 
Mount' the heavenly patterns of all that he was to make 
for the tabernacle, so the Jewish historians affirm that 
David saw 'by the spirit' the patterns of the temple 
(i Chron. xxviii. n, 12, 18, 19). But if art is thus 
sanctioned when dedicated to the service of the Lord, to 
produce artistic works cannot be a contravention of His 
Divine law. If art models were made visible to Moses, 
must not art exist in heaven ; and if one form of art 
exists in heaven, why not all forms ? " 

" I have no reply to offer, Sophos," I answered. 

" The Lord's gifts are not for time only," resumed 
Dokeos; "they are eternal. The Bezaleels, Aholiabs, 
and Hirams of mankind will find uses suitable to their 
genius in heaven as well as on earth. Their genius was 
a spark struck off from the Divine fire that vivifies and 
irradiates all. It is God's gift to them; given that it 
may be exercised, that it may be developed by exercise, 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO t 



307 



that its partial development on earth may form a base 
of preparation for its far higher and fuller development 
in heaven. The substances of heaven on which their 
moulding art shall be exercised are at once more plastic 
and more enduring than those of earth; just as the 
genius by which they will be able to conceive shall be 
more productive, and their skill far more executive than 
is the case on earth. The sculptor shall there model 
his conceptions of beauty, and fix them in a material 
surpassing the diamond for hardness and brilliancy. The 
architect shall there design and construct edifices be- 
fitting the glories of the New Jerusalem, the temples, and 
galleries, and meeting halls, and museums, and concert- 
rooms of angelic societies. Sages will teach wisdom by 
means of written and spoken words ; musicians will in- 
spire delight by sweet sounds ; painters will instruct and 
charm; sculptors and architects, and artists in metals 
and precious stones, will add their quota to the general 
edification ; landscape gardeners will arrange and adorn 
the paradises of heaven ; every work shall embody angelic 
thought and express it ; all that is beautiful, whether in 
the immediate productions of the Creator, or in the 
modifications of that creation by the derived art and 
skill of angels, shall be possible and perfect in heaven ; 
nothing shall be banished save that which 6 loveth and 
maketh a lie.' All that is beautiful and good came from 
God as their only origin : heaven is the place where the 
beautiful and the good have their myriad-form embodi- 
ments, and every embodiment is their triumph." 

"You compel me," I said, "to remember Milton's 
suggestive words — 

' What if earth 
Be but the shadow of heaven ; and things therein 
Each to other like, more than on earth is thought ! 9 



308 WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO? 



I also remember the thought-prompting words of Sir 
Thomas Browne — 6 The severe schools shall never laugh 
me out of the philosophy of Hermes, that this visible 
world is a picture of the invisible, wherein, as in a por- 
trait, things are not truly, but in equivocal shapes, and as 
they counterfeit some more real substance in that in- 
visible fabric.' A similar idea is likewise expressed by 
Barrow : 6 What we see in a lower degree somewhere to 
exist, doth probably otherwise exist in a higher degree/ 
Many others of the wiser ones of earth, from Plato to 
Lord Bacon, have more or less clearly seen the analogies 
which the eternal and heavenly must bear to the earthly 
and transient. And now I bethink me, Paul himself 
states that the invisible things of God are clearly seen 
from the creation of the world, being understood by the 
things which are made, even His eternal power and 
Godhead (Rom. i. 20). Oh ! if it be true that the clue 
to this relationship is 'Correspondence,' and that the 
Science of Correspondences, of which you have said so 
much, is indeed the lost 'key of knowledge/ great is the 
gain of those who have begun to understand, and have 
learned to apply it !" 



Earth a Portal of Heaven. 

"You are right, my friend," rejoined Sophos, "the 
Science of Correspondence is indeed the 'key of know- 
ledge' : it unlocks the mystery of ages, the real relation- 
ship existing between the earthly and the heavenly ; it 
opens the treasuries of the Divine Word, and discloses at 
once the law of creation, the principles of life, the in- 
spiration of Scripture, and merciful purposes of the Infinite 



WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



Wisdom. Once, all wise men possessed this teacher of 
wisdom : since then, a few have dimly perceived that it 
exists and have vaguely groped after it; the time will 
come when he who is ignorant of this science shall no 
longer be accounted wise ! 

"But let us return to our former theme. Had' 
sin not entered into the world, the earth would 
have remained altogether the portal and threshold of 
heaven : all human faculties would have been angelic, 
in an incipient, a rudimentary state. The beauti- 
ful gifts of the Great Father to His children have 
been tainted and soiled by sin; but in heaven the taint 
and the defilement are abolished; the gifts alone re- 
main. Their capacity of development also remains, 
for this capacity exists inherently in the gift. Oppor- 
tunities for the exercise of the gift are of necessity im- 
plied in the bestowal of the gift. The joy that can 
alone come from producing those things, for which the 
gift was conferred in order that they might be produced, 
is a pure and holy joy; it is a God-like joy, and will for 
ever be possible in heaven. All culture is anticipatory 
and predictive : while enlarging the faculties of production 
and appreciation, it predicts to those faculties an endless 
increase; it anticipates for those cultivated abilities an 
ever-increasing enjoyment. Religion embraces and in- 
cludes all cultivation of human powers, interfusing into 
all of them the love, and worship, and service of God. 
In this way religion is the link of union between the Most 
High and the humblest, and, at the same time, the pro- 
cess of preparation by which men are fitted for heaven." 

" Oh, that so broad and generous a conception of reli- 
gion had ever been cherished ! " I exclaimed. 

" The times are ripening, my friend," said Sophos, so 



3io WHAT DO THE ANGELS DO f 



gently, so sweetly, and so confidently, that his words sank 
into my soul as a prophecy, which compelled me to be- 
lieve in its truth ; " and men will grow wiser and clearer- 
eyed. The full reach of Christianity has not been at- 
tained, but the perceptions of men are widening. No 
hand can stem the inflow of the tide, and the tide has 
risen, and will still continue to rise. Possess thou thy 
soul in patience ! 

" The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of uses," he 
resumed, after a pause. " Whosoever has not the love 
of use, so as to delight in rendering service and ministra- 
tion to others, has yet to gain the very initiament of the 
heavenly life. The perfection of heaven arises from the 
endless diversity of uses performed by the innumerable 
hosts of angels. Every genuine use is heavenly, and will 
be performed in heaven. For each use each worker is 
specifically adapted by genius and inclination, by aptitude 
and taste. In the performance of such God-appointed 
and God -rewarded uses each finds his abiding delight. 
Because all genuine uses are harmonious, their perfor- 
mance tends for ever to exalt the perfectness of heaven, 
and the happiness of all. The angels, therefore, are an 
ever-augmenting company of loving and mighty intelli- 
gences, who are seeking unceasingly to become indivi- 
dually and socially the embodiments and illustrations of 
the splendours, perfections, powers, and joys of the Divine 
nature — God's will realizing itself in their wills; God's 
wisdom becoming embosomed in their minds, and order- 
ing all things within and around them for their fullest 
good ; and the Omnipotence of God working into and 
through them, so as to construct the noblest manhood 
and womanhood in their individual souls, and to form a 
perfect society out of innumerable units. By their eternal 



WHA T DO THE ANGELS DO? 311 

increase in numbers, in love, light, life, purity, excellence, 
and peace, shall be fulfilled the hope-inspiring prophecy, 

— ' Of the increase of His government and peace there shall 
be no end? 

" Dokeos," concluded Sophos, " our task is done ! " 



THE END. 



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